Guardian Louds
by The Loud Author
Summary: When monsters begin to appear in Royal Woods, and begin wreaking havoc in an attempt to steal human essence through any means necessary. Lincoln and Lisa find themselves left with the guardian project, to make sure his family would not be hurt and to protect as many as plausible in not just Royal Woods, but the world. (Completed.)
1. Friendly Visit

**Authors Note: Allow me to welcome you to my next loud house fic, inspired by super sentai. I want you all to know that this won't be daily updated like my other story, I will update it as often as I plausible can. I hope you enjoy reading this, to be honest I have had nothing but shaking hands the entire time writing this, since I fear no one will like anything I write outside of a brothers debt. So please, leave your honest thoughts of this story if you would be kind.**

Autumn began only a month ago, and Mother Nature did her job expediently in stripping the trees of their leaves. In Royal Woods, a calm city in the state of Michigan, the colder weather had set in, and every light gust of wind that blew past sent nearly a hundred leaves blowing in the same direction.

"Ah, Fall… the season that pretty much lets everyone have fun with nature without having to worry about hurting it…"

A thirteen-year-old boy looked out from the bathroom window, where he often found himself gazing out it, whenever he was brushing his buckteeth. His white light hair was messy, and he was in an orange hoodie with his denim blue jeans. He spat into the sink.

"…and boy, the mountains of leaves are gonna be big this year," Lincoln Loud smiled. Being the middle child trying to live with ten sisters sounded a lot harder than it actually was, but the young boy did his best to make sure everyone was happy, being a peacekeeper was rough but worthwhile. He tended to be able to make plans up quickly on the spot, sadly do they rarely ever go through well, usually blowing up in his face.

"Indeed," Lincoln heard. He looked to the sink to see Lisa, the second youngest Loud member, standing beside him. She had just finished brushing her own teeth like he did.

"You got anything planned to make the clean up faster? Last year the Reverse Leaf Blower almost worked… 'til it, y'know, blew up," the white haired boy chuckled at the memory. Lisa was semi-famous for her great mind already for her age, her brown hair and thick glasses making her easy to spot from a mile away. She was wearing her usual intelligence attire, like college was more important to her than fun, not that she was opposed to enjoying anytime she could with her family whenever the chance arose.

"Yes, and I'll gladly remind you that you were the one who filled the bag past its expandable limitation," Lisa retorted. She often experimented on her family members in trade for favors, though there was the occasional time when she left them out of the loop on a test.

"Yeaaaaah…" Lincoln contested defeat. Their father had not been too happy about the destroyed leaf blower. Thankfully Lisa and Lana had been able to fix it back up for the most part.

"You're smiling a lot more than usual, Lisa. Is something up?" Lincoln asked. His intelligent younger sibling usually had a straight face when it came to things. The teenage boy normally would not give it a second thought, but it felt different today.

"Oh, yes. I'm actually turning out to be very excited. One of my competitors is coming over for a friendly visit today. You might remember him as Vernan Otis," Lisa said as the two left the bathroom. That name was quite an eye widener to her only brother.

"Vernan? That guy from the… uh… science fairs?" Lincoln nervously replied. He was not able to pronounce the full event name, mainly because his head hurt trying to remember it, he never had met Vernan personally either.

"No, Lincoln," Lisa sighed, "He is a fellow scientist, and for lack of better word, my rival. He's taken four of those medals for most helpful invention. And the events are called The Four Seasons of Service to help the world."

Lisa remembered it all by heart. Early on whenever the season changed, a small gathering would occur where scientists could show their most recent inventions, and the most helpful to society gained a special medal representing that season the gathering was held in.

"Okay… so why would you have this Vernan guy anywhere near home? Don't you hate him?" Lincoln heard it many times before. When Lisa lost, she tended to go overboard with experiments, resulting in several explosions in barely a day's time.

"It's because in the end, it's to better society and to help those that need help. It may sound illogical, but if it wasn't for competition to surpass one another, then frankly there would be no progress made, and despite how rude and tense everyone might be, we all are doing it to help those in need," Lisa went into detail for her brother as she followed him to his room. It was small, but he was thankful to just have a room to himself, since everyone else had to share bedrooms, though occasionally he would wind up sharing with one of his siblings for one of many reasons.

"That's a really positive way to look at competition, Lisa," Lincoln praised her, finding that mindset great. He already was impressed at how rarely she gave up on inventions, no matter how dangerous. The white haired boy pet the family dog Charles who lay on his bed beside Lincoln's precious stuffed family hand-me-down, Bun-Bun.

"Thank you, Lincoln. Though to answer your previous inquiry, yes, I hate Vernan with every iota of my body," Lisa stated, not hesitant to at least speak the truth about how she felt about her rival.

"Well… Still mostly positive," Lincoln gave a thumbs up. As of now, they were the only two inside the house, while the other nine sisters and their parents were long since outside. The older Louds were trying to clean up the leaves, as the younger Louds scattered them everywhere like usual this time of year.

"When is he going to be here anyway?" The bucktoothed boy asked, trying to find his shoes. They were somewhere in his room. He kept them here so he would not lose track of them, though it seemed they somehow magically got lost like always. Lisa kicked his shoes out from under the bed, she knew where her brother lost items often, so it was easy to find them again.

"Between now and approximately… five minutes," Lisa claimed. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow while putting his shoes on, when he heard the doorbell ring right on cue.

"Huh… This is going to be another weird day, isn't it?" He chirped, guessing that maybe being super intelligent made people super punctual as well. His sister nodded, agreeing that there rarely was such a thing as a normal day for the Loud house, and what they considered normal, most considered weird.

"Would you like to stay for our gathering? You may get a preview to the next step of evolution in mankind's technology," Lisa offered, trying to not go overboard with using her large vocabulary since it always confused her family to no end.

"Uhh… I'unno. What's the chance of things blowing up?" Lincoln watched Lisa pull out a calculator and take a few moments before giving her response.

"Twelve percent chance of one of my inventions exploding," she coughed, adjusting her glasses. The white haired boy sighed, guessing she had no idea what the exact probability was for Vernan's devices to unexpectedly detonate, and he didn't want it to be eighty-eight percent, all he could do was hope it would be fine.

"Alright, I'll join you two. It'd be nice to see you get along instead of hatefully glare at each other from across the rooms," Lincoln agreed, though he was not speaking out his will to make sure that Lisa did not go overboard when showing her inventions off, if she did that is, if it came down to that. At least the only Loud boy could make a good guinea pig if they wanted to test something on him.

"Well, butting heads is how scientists think best after all… thank you Lincoln," Lisa hopped up, giving her brother a hug around his waist, which was as high as she could reach. Lincoln smiled, rubbing her head.

"Don't think about it. Come on, you don't want to keep our guest waiting," Lincoln was ready to meet Vernan more personally. He went downstairs with his second youngest sister and to the front door. Most of their family was still outside playing.

"Well here we go," Lisa grabbed the doorknob and opened it to greet their visitor. The man who stood on the front porch was in a brown coat and a white shirt. He looked maybe sixty years old at best, and his head was next to bald, aside from the black hair around the side of his skull.

"Lisa Loud! It's great to see you smiling for once," Vernan laughed. The man was recognized for more of his medical treatments and studies on how to improve the human body, mainly for helping with life crippling injuries or the likes.

"Lincoln, meet Vernan Otis," Lisa introduced them more personally. Lincoln shook the overly joyous elder's hand, seeing a black briefcase in his other hand. The first time the boy had ever heard of Vernan, was when he made a breakthrough in helping people with no immune systems gain temporary restoration, so they could have a chance to enjoy life how it should be lived, even if it was only little bits at a time.

"It's nice to meet you Mister Otis… and to have you over for a visit," Lincoln greeted the elder scientist, letting him come inside and then closing the door behind him.

"Please. Mister Otis was my great-great-great-great-great grandfather's name. You can just call me Vernan," Vernan insisted there was no need for such formalities. He took his coat off, Lincoln taking it and hanging it on the nearby coat rack. The three of them went to the kitchen.

"My brother wanted to meet you… Due to our history with one another," Lisa informed Vernan, the elder laughed lightly. Lincoln was aware the five year old girl and the sixty-year-old were always trying to beat each other, most of the scientist community found it a running gag.

"I'm sure he just wants to make me jealous of that head full of hair he has," Vernan laughed while patting the young boy's head. Lincoln was glad they were happy and calm so far.

"Go ahead and sit down. I'll get you anything you need," Lincoln assured that the elder could relax and enjoy his stay as a guest. There were two tables in the kitchen; the grown up table and the kids table. The white haired boy tried twice to get to the grownups table, but he failed miserably, but the single Loud boy understood that sometimes the adult table got worse than the kids table.

"What grade are you in, boy?" Vernan questioned while taking his seat at the big table, resting the briefcase on it off to the side. Lisa had to get a few phonebooks from the living room so she could reach the table without having the stand on the chair. The child prodigy was short for her age, and it did get frustrating often.

"I'm in seventh grade," Lincoln answered as he took his seat beside Lisa. The response seemed to make the old man smile from ear to ear.

"Really? You certainly don't act like it. Still, I'm glad to know that there are good honest youths in this world," Vernan complimented. Lincoln, for his somewhat mature attitude on how to handle things, everyone in the loud family was unusually unique. All the Loud siblings had a special trait about them.

"Thanks, Mister Otis," Lincoln rubbed his head sheepishly at the compliments.

"Vernan, young boy, Vernan…" Vernan shook his head, insisting once again to not be referred to as Mister Otis.

"O-oh, sorry… So you didn't bring any of your gadgets to show off?" Lincoln asked. So far he saw no fancy machines or any sort of invention, and neither of the highly intelligent people were comparing which machine was better than the other thus far.

"I have to concur, I'm perplexed at the lack of inventions as well," Lisa agreed with her brother, their curiosity peaked. Vernan was the type to always carry something new he made around.

"Ah, well… I do, sort of. I'm really close to finishing something I've been working on for three years. It took me seven years to get approval to begin working on it to begin with," Vernan groaned. The memories of all those arguments, meetings and fighting with his partners superiors and equals were horrible, but his determination and near decade of his life being spent on this would soon pay off.

"Wow! Was this dangerous or something?" Lincoln questioned. If it was something from ten years ago, this was before a good third of his sisters were even born yet.

"Lincoln, there is no such thing as a dangerous invention. Only a dangerous inventor," Lisa informed him. She hated hearing people judge the invention and be afraid of them, and giving up at the slightest problem or disagreement.

"I wish I could say you were a hundred percent correct, Lisa, but frankly it's a lack of passion for work and the heart to never give up until you succeed. That is mostly the issue. Without any of that, the invention isn't even much of an invention anymore, as much as it's a buffoon trying to garner money instead of helping others," Vernan hated knowing that people's well being was not the priority, money was the only thing that mattered to big corporations. It was the main thing that drove him to work even harder until his last days on this earth.

"Whoa… I never knew how rough it was…" Lincoln admitted. Lisa had not even met with many of these supposed confrontations, but that might be due to her age. Inevitably, things would change, but the lone Loud boy was going to support all his siblings no matter what.

"Yes… I apologize, I went off topic… You see, ten years ago, a meteor shower passed by Karnataka, in south India. It was a nice sight for many of course, but then a phenomenon occurred, and about twenty various sized meteors had fallen straight through orbit and landed along the shoreline," Vernan started. That look in his eyes almost seemed to express how fascinated he was with this mystery, almost like the glimmer of excitement and curiosity from when he first heard about it still existed today.

"That's preposterous. Meteors can't suddenly change direction on their own," Lisa argued. Her rival put his hands up, unable to contest that.

"Yes, that is what everyone said. But…" Vernan continued, "I still went to that shoreline to help investigate, and before I knew it, the military had rounded everything up and were repairing everything. These meteors had something special in them, and I could tell so by looking at them. So after seven years and many favors, the general turned over one of the smaller specimens to me."

"Whoa…" Lincoln said upon seeing a few pictures be put out on the table, showing the meteor's impact site. The damage was not too bad, but they certainly had made their marks.

"Yes, but after three years, I realized these meteors didn't seem like meteors anymore. Instead, they are… well, they're like spheres filled to the brim with energy. Even the tiniest ones were stronger than five electric generators, they also recharge overtime. I put that energy to use to begin working on the Guardian Project," Vernan finished. The two looked at him, wondering what was with the name. It sounded ominous to them, and scary for an invention.

"Guardian? Is it for the military?" Lisa tried to guess. Her mind was not able to put things together here. This did not sound like Vernan Otis's line of work, but more like a war machine in production.

"Yes… unfortunately, to help benefit and aid those in need to get the meteor for my examinations, I had to agree to give it to the handpicked top soldier from the army," Vernan confessed. It upset him a lot as well that his invention had to be used by the government, but it did not halt his studies or research.

"There's no need to regret ten years of hard work…" Lincoln assured, "You said it's to help people right?"

"Yes… The guardian is designed from beginning to end, to save thousands of lives," Vernan nodded, Lisa wondering what her brother was getting at.

"Then it'll be a great thing. Sometime's things you work hard on go places you wouldn't like, but if it's still going to help those in need, then you've done a lot more in ten years than most could do in their entire lives… You're changing the world," Lincoln gave his minor speech on how he viewed this so far. Lisa was surprised at his wisdom. Vernan began laughing lightly.

"Ahahaha… you, young boy, are the type of person to illuminate the darkness in people's hearts… You're the type of person this world needs more of. After all, hard times are hitting once again, and the world is trying to find a constant balance between good and evil. The guardian is being created to make sure the next spike of evil is able to be fought," Vernan applauded Lincoln. The Loud parents were quite lucky to have such kindhearted children.

"Can you show us the guardian?" Lisa requested, excited from imagining this, her brother was in the same hype as her. Vernan shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Lisa, you are like another child to me. That's how I see all of my younger opponents or peers, but I've told you everything I can, the guardian is not even a quarter of the way complete yet," Vernan apologized. Lincoln and Lisa understood, despite their disappointment.

"It's alright," Lincoln insisted. The explanation and the pictures was enough for him. Lisa agreed, though they then noticed what time it was.

"Wow… Time does fly," Vernan said. Two hours had passed already since his arrival, and they barely realized it. The elder stood up.

"You have to leave already?" Lincoln asked, wishing the visit could last longer. It was weird for this special visit to be cut this short.

"Unfortunately so. When you go into my profession, you get no time to rest. I have a plane leaving at the Golden Pine Airline in an hour," Vernan apologized while the two Loud children followed him to the door, watching him get his coat back on.

"I appreciate your time. I'll expect to see you at the next seasonal competition, Lisa," the sixty-year-old man hummed, seeing that reassured smirk spread on Lisa's face that showed her motivation to accept and do any challenge.

"And I'll be sure to beat you this time around. I promise," Lisa declared. Lincoln was happy for them to see friendly competition.

"I'm looking forward to it," Vernan walked out the door with that same smile on his face.

"Wow… what a really nice man," Lincoln then turned to Lisa, "Jeez, Lisa, how can you hate that guy?"

"Please, Lincoln," Lisa rolled her eyes, "He was in a good mood. I assure you that he is a lot crueler at these gathering."

After saying so, Lisa went upstairs to return to her work. The white haired boy let out a sigh. He had honestly believed the two were on good grounds, but now he was having second thoughts.

"Oh well, I'm starved. Time to grab an apple and go join everyone else outside," Lincoln thought. He was ready to go enjoy the autumn weather, though after he had grabbed a yellowish red apple and took one bite out of it, he noticed something.

"Crud… He forgot his briefcase," the teenage boy realized, looking at the briefcase lying on the table that had a three digit lock on it. Lincoln heard the sound of an engine revving up.

"Oh, come on!" Lincoln saw a taxi that Vernan had called to arrive here in advance. The young boy grabbed the briefcase before rushing out the door, to try and return it. However, by the time he got to the sidewalk, the taxi was already off in the distance.

"Great… and I have only an hour to get it back to him before he takes off on that plane," Lincoln murmured in irritation. He was not going to be playing in the leaves anytime soon clearly. The young boy presumed whatever was in the briefcase was important, not that he could open it to check without the code.

"Oh well. I'll be back before anyone notices," Lincoln told himself as he went to the open garage, seeing how full it was. He went and grabbed a bicycle that was a possession of his sporty sister, Lynn. He got onto it, letting the briefcase hang onto one of the handles so it would not fall off. Lincoln began to peddle, speeding his way forward, and willing to take any shortcuts to get to the airport on time, he just hoped that a major delay occurred.

"I'd better get there on time, or else. Still… I wonder what he meant by the next spike of evil…"


	2. Unexpected Fight

**Authors Note: Thank you all for the support thus far, I know this fic is not that good but it is still something I have wanted to do for a long time. I hope you are enjoying it, please let me know your thoughts.**

"Haah… haah… almost… there…" Lincoln wheezed as he was arriving to the Golden Pine Airport, having to stop and get off his bike and grab the presumably important briefcase. He wished he had time to gather his breath. Sadly, Lincoln had wound up lost twice trying to get here and lost a lot of precious time. He began to make his way to the airport, looking left to right for the intelligent elder.

"Of course, the airport's got everyone here today," Lincoln groaned. The airport was packed with people awaiting or preparing to board their flights. He decided to go straight for the front desk, hoping maybe an attendant could take it onto the elder's plane, if it had not left yet.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, excuse me," the teen apologized for each person he brushed past. The young boy never was good in crowds. He always felt like everyone was invading his personal space and vice versa that he was invading all of there's.

"Can I help you, little guy?" The worker behind the desk requested. Lincoln coughed slightly, finally catching his breath.

"Uhh… Vernan Otis left his briefcase behind. I wanted to ask if his flight had left yet?" The bucktoothed boy explained the situation. He waited while the worker looked over her computer for the information.

"Mhm… sorry little guy. He was on Flight 307 and that left about seven minutes ago," the worker apologized. Lincoln groaned, his head lying on the briefcase in irritation, trying to tell himself mentally that it was fine, since he needed the exercise from the cycling, but that did not really make him feel better.

"Thanks ma'am… is there any way to get him this? It's very important… I think," Lincoln requested to know if there was anything they could do to save him the burden of trying to send this through the postal office.

"Well yes, if you go downstairs, there is a small area dedicated to lost and found possessions. We'll attempt to get in contact with Mister Otis and things will go from there," she explained. Lincoln felt relieved to hear this.

"Thank you!" Lincoln told her. He barely moved, and three people behind him in line grabbed him and tossed him aside out of impatience.

"Tough crowds…" The Loud boy rubbed his arm sorely. He just made his way off to try and find a way downstairs, feeling a lot more at ease to know there was not a time limit pressuring him anymore.

"Huh? What was that…?" Lincoln wondered. He noticed the lights in the airport flicker slightly, though he could take a guess that the minor power issue had caused flight delays, judging by some irritated groans. He finally found the staircase at the other part of the airport more off to the side.

"No wonder lost things never get found…" Lincoln chuckled. If the lost and found was this far out of people's ways to get to it, then he presumed that no one would find it. Most likely anything lost and sent there probably stayed there. He made his way down, or got taken by a worker.

"Huh… It happened again…" Lincoln noticed the lights flicker again, but this time it seemed to be more random and out of control. Once the lights fixed, he was surprised. At the bottom of the steps, there laid a security guard.

"Hey are you okay? Sir?" Lincoln crouched down and shook the man, hearing a pained grumble. He looked at the guard's radio, used to communicate with the other security staff, and grabbed it bringing it to his face.

"Uh, he-hello? There's an officer unconscious in the staircase downstairs," Lincoln spoke in the radio. Some voices responded in confusion, but they said they will send help immediately and others to come check things out.

"AHHH!"

Lincoln felt his heart skip a beat. The cry of pain came from the hallway that led to the luggage storage room and the lost and found which was nearby.

"Wait… that was Vernan!" Lincoln stood straight up, the briefcase still tight in his grip. He made a mad dash down the hall, sliding on the tiled floor on one turn. When the young boy reached the source of the noise, he felt his heart stop with terror overwhelming him.

"What… what are you?!" Lincoln's mouth opened wide. Before him was a tall, scary figure with a blue helmet on and horns sticking from the sides of its head, grey skin and bright yellow eyes. The monster had Vernan pinned against the wall by his throat, and drawing some green energy out from his face.

"Knock it off!" Lincoln charged at the monster, swinging the briefcase overhead, but the monster caught it, he gulped seeing the yellow eyes of the monster flash when he turned his head to him.

"Annoying child…" The monster delivered a hard hit to Lincoln's stomach, harder than a horses kick. He drew the monster's attention enough to get him off Vernan thankfully, the young boy groaning in pain seeing the monster absorbing that weird green energy into itself.

"Give me your essence," the monster approached the teenage Loud boy as he struggled himself off the floor, the briefcase lying nearby.

"Wha-what?! Mhphf!" Lincoln felt his face get grabbed by one of the monster's scary claws. His skin felt so rough like sandpaper. The young boy tried to kick and punch him off, to little avail.

"Hm…? Nothing is coming out," the monster sounded disappointed. He threw Lincoln down the hall, the young boy letting out a pained yelp when he hit the tiled floor and slid across it a short distance.

"It appears my time is up," the monster bowed before turning around, beginning to walk away. Lincoln watched the monster slowly fade away before completely vanishing. He panted, getting up and rushing straight over to Vernan.

"Vernan! Vernan! Are you alright?!" Lincoln shook the elder, unable to believe what he had even witnessed right now. He grabbed his cellphone out from his pocket and dialing 911. Vernan was half conscious, but he was not giving any response to the young boy. Lincoln guessed he had missed his flight because the monster had attacked him and the security staff.

"911, what's your emergency and what services do you need?" the operator answered.

"We need ambulances and police at the Golden Pine Airport. A lot of people were beaten up," Lincoln explained. So far from what he could tell there had been only four people hurt, not counting himself, and he doubted he would have anything worse than a small bruise on his stomach and back.

"Emergency response services will be there soon, sir," the operator informed him. Lincoln thanked her before hanging up, hoping that security would come to help him with everyone.

"What… what are you doing here boy?" Vernan asked the Loud boy while he was conscious. The teenage boy went and grabbed his briefcase, coming over and showing it to the scientist.

"You left this at our house. I came over to give it back to you," Lincoln tried to give it back to the intelligent elder, thinking he could at least keep it with him at the hospital and have a colleague take it somewhere for safekeeping.

"Boy, I don't think you understand… I didn't have much time in my life left. What that beast stole is unfortunately going to be the end of me," Vernan claimed. Lincoln had no clue what he meant, watching the older man rummage around his coat before pulling out a key.

"What's this for?" Lincoln questioned, wondering why the elder would not take his briefcase, but he doubted the elder was going to be dying from whatever that monster took from him.

"It's for my home… please go there and find this and take everything from the basement. The code for the briefcase is 358. Please, have Lisa finish my work… I beg of you boy, as kind hearted as you are I believe I can trust you and Lisa with this," Vernan explained his plight. Lincoln hoped his little sister knew where her rival lived, he could tell the old man was complimenting his kindness for at least saving his life from the monster.

"Finish your work…? You mean the Guardian Project? …Vernan?" Lincoln received no answer, just as he questioned him, Vernan lost consciousness again. Lincoln pocketed the key making a mental note about the code, guessing he had to keep the briefcase now and get it back to Lisa. Lincoln could hear the sounds of feet running down the steps. He hoped that everyone would be fine, now that help was here.

A few minutes later, Lincoln now found himself outside the airport, sitting on a small bench with two police officers standing before him. Vernan and the other victims of the monster were taken by ambulances.

"Little boy, repeat to us again what you supposedly saw…" The first officer requested.

"I saw a monster! It was taking some energy thing from Mister Otis… I tried to get it off him, but all it did was grab my face and punch me away," Lincoln repeated for the third time, but the report become less believable to the officers every time the supposed monster was brought up.

"Are there any security cameras for that area?" The second office quirked. His cohort shook his head.

"No. Unfortunately all security cameras down there are only focused on the stairwell and the luggage storage area to make sure no one steals anything. The stairwell security camera saw a security guard get thrown into it but nothing more," the office explained while reading over the report. Security was weak in this airport due to low fundings.

"You can't tell me that some normal person did this," Lincoln said. The police officers were not able to argue there. They certainly were not able to decipher who did do this. Their best guess was someone who got way too into their training had assaulted these people.

"Well, you go home kid. Thanks for helping these people out by getting them help," the officer insisted. Lincoln was done arguing anyway, but he certainly was sick of them referring to him as kid. It made him remember how he was still not allowed at the grownups table. It was irritating, but he tried to ignore it.

"I'd better tell Lisa what happened," Lincoln told himself while getting his sister's bicycle. This took a lot more time than he expected. The young boy put the briefcase back on the handle, making sure the key was in his pocket before he began to peddle away to get back home. He wondered if Lisa would even believe him about Vernan's request to complete the Guardian Project, and hoped she did not think he was crazy like the police officers did. The young boy sighed, aware he was not going to have much fun today, as he pulled the hood of his shirt up over his head to shield from the cold wind.

"All I wanted to do was play in the leaves…"


	3. Disbelief

Lincoln rode all the way home on his sister's bicycle. He was happy to have helped Vernan, but right now the young boy had to inform Lisa what all had happened. He smiled, seeing his home coming into the near distance, though as he rode by part of the yard, the young boy got his pant leg caught in the chain.

"Dang it," Lincoln fell over with the bike and landed in a carefully crafted pile of leaves in the yard, the impact causing all the crunching leaves to explode into the air like an updraft had hit them.

"Aw, Lincoln! I worked hard to make this hiding spot," he heard a disappointed and light-toned voice. Lincoln looked over to see his second-elder sister, Leni Loud, who was half buried in the leaves, her black and white sunglasses on her blonde head and a white coat and matching colored pants.

"Oh! Sorry Leni, my leg got caught," Lincoln apologized, guessing his sisters were playing hide and seek.

"Got you!" They heard as suddenly a dart got stuck to Leni's cheek. Lincoln got hit by one as well except it got stuck between his eyes.

"Heh. Guess we're out," Lincoln laughed, Leni laughing with him and falling back into the leaf pile. Lincoln saw another of his sisters coming over.

"You didn't even try to hide," Lynn said disappointingly. She stood wearing her favorite sports jersey with a red jacket on top of that, her brown hair done up to her usual ponytail, and holding a toy gun in one hand. She grabbed the dart on Leni's cheek and pulled it off with a pop, before beginning to reload.

"Did you lick the dart you shot me with?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow while taking the dart off.

"Yep! Why do you have my bike, by the way?" Lynn barely acknowledged that she had licked the dart to make it stick better. She came to the teenage boy, helping free his pant leg from the chain.

"Thanks… sorry for taking it without asking. Lisa had a friend over and he forgot something, so I tried to take it back to him, but he's in the hospital now," Lincoln apologized as he stood up, picking the briefcase up from the pile of leaves, making sure he did not lose it or forget it like the elder had.

"Ooooh! What's in it?" Leni chirped while taking the briefcase from him, but could not get it to open.

"Is it like a slot machine…?" She tilted her head, seeing the three rotating digits that would act as the lock, sadly not getting any result when she spun them randomly, Lincoln taking it back from her.

"I don't know what's in it, but he wanted me to give it to Lisa and then get something from his house for him," Lincoln shrugged. He was about as informed about the contents of that briefcase as they were, except only he knew the numbers that would unlock the case.

"Was it that Vernan guy? Lisa was telling me Lana and Lola about him a lot last night," Lynn claimed. Her brother nodded, though he was heavily debating about telling them anything that occurred at the airport. He figured that could wait until after he helped Lisa get all this settled with helping Vernan.

"Once I'm done, I'll be out here to beat you both in dart and seek," Lincoln declared.

"Alright, Lincy," Leni nodded.

"Sounds good, just don't forget your dart gun," Lynn reminded him. Lincoln nodded, promising he wouldn't forget. He went to return her bicycle back to the garage before going back inside the home.

"Why did you lick his dart, anyway?" Leni quirked, wondering if her younger sister was sick and trying to spread it to their brother as revenge for something.

"Because I love him," Lynn hummed, twirling the toy gun while going off to hunt down the other sisters hiding around the yards.

"Who can't love someone that sweet," Leni agreed, believing their only brother was the best. Leni went off with her sister to continue the hunt for their siblings, not getting how serious Lynn had been.

"Hey Lisa, mind if I come in? I need to talk with you… what is that?" Lincoln questioned as he entered his second youngest sister's room, seeing a flask that was bubbling and shaking violently on the desk next to her chemistry equipment.

"A failure, sadly. Oh, and shield your eyes," Lisa stated. Lincoln did just as she told him, covering his face with the briefcase like it was a tiny shield. The child prodigy pulled out a small case and putting it over the beaker, before turning her back to it. After a few moments, they heard an explosion that shook the room.

"Uhh…" Lincoln saw a giant scorch mark left on the table from the destroyed experiment. Lisa brushed it aside like she was ashamed of it to begin with. The white haired teenager came over and rested the briefcase on the table.

"What are you doing with Vernan's briefcase?" The young girl requested, recognizing it from their meeting earlier this morning. The teenager made sure the door to the room was closed, despite this room being shared by the most sisters. He hoped none would decide to suddenly come in.

"He gave me it and the key to his house," Lincoln answered, presenting the key.

"…are you sure about this?" His sister adjusted her glasses.

"Yes! He left it behind. I went to the airport to give it back, and a monster attacked him. Now he's begging you to finish the Guardian Project," Lincoln suddenly felt a spray of water hit his face from a spray bottle normally used to punish Charles when he gnawed on furniture.

"Lincoln, you're being preposterous. Vernan would not let me touch any of his inventions. Now show me where you hit your head so I can treat the injury," Lisa gave the predicted response. She assumed that her brother went insane or hit his head hard on something and had an injury on his head that she could not see.

"I'm being serious, Lisa. Vernan was talking like he was going to die… look, I can prove it. I know the combination to the briefcase," Lincoln began to turn the numbers to match the code 358. Once he had displayed the last number, there was a click.

"Does this prove it?" Lincoln asked, while opening it up. Lisa looked at the contents of the briefcase. There were some schematics, blueprints and some unique and strange tools. She was at a loss for words, pulling out one of the many blueprints.

"…I don't believe in monsters, Lincoln. I don't know what you saw… but… this is a project beyond my comprehension… which is why I'm going to do my best for the Guardian Project… and for Vernan," Lisa said. Lincoln never thought he would hear her say that. Something was beyond the fathom of her mind or abilities. He smiled, glad to hear that she was going to accept.

"However, I do not have even 5% of the things I require for this. One of the alloys is not even legal to own. All sources found must go straight to the government," the child prodigy explained their current problem, while viewing over all the required materials that were written down.

"What? What makes it illegal? It's just metal, right?" Lincoln questioned. Lisa took off her glasses and rubbed her head, amazed at how fast they were met with a wall in their progress.

"It's called Gruynithil. It's very rare to find deep in the earth. The most sensible theory is that meteors from millions of years ago had the material within them and inevitably were buried deep in the earth over time… reason it's not legally allowed anywhere is because no one knows what the alloy has been made from, nor what it is capable of," Lisa elaborated on the most she was aware of and the most logical theory.

"Alien metal… I really want to see it now," Lincoln grinned, though guessed the main fear was side effects from prolonged contact with the alloy. Anyone who had tested it either was keeping quiet on purpose or the government was just not ready to release the results yet.

"Lincoln, there is no such thing as aliens, Monsters, or anything in that spectrum…" Lisa was about to have an aneurysm. Her only brother still believed in some things. If it was not for the monster that attacked him at the airport, he would be just as skeptical.

"Vernan said we should take everything from the basement of his home… so do you know where he lives?" Lincoln suggested that maybe Vernan had something prepared in the basement he wanted them to raid, but they would need help after all. They doubted they could carry everything out with just their hands.

"Indeed. He bragged quite often about it… but it's very far away, so either we have to pay for taxi fair or ask mom and dad to take us," Lisa nodded. Her brother snapped his fingers while closing the briefcase and making sure the combination was messed up so no one would open it again while they were gone.

"Don't worry, I know how to get us a ride," Lincoln said. They were in this together after all, so he was going to do whatever he could to help with the Guardian Project, whether it was for good or bad. He could not help but feel afraid, worried that the monster would be trying to hunt him down. The teenager pushed those worries to the back of his mind as paranoia.

"…And then Bobby tried to juggle them, and he had to go to the emergency room. He tries too hard to impress me… buuut that's what makes him so precious," an older blonde girl spoke on the phone while relaxing in her and Leni's room. She had a blue sweater on and long tan colored pants.

"Hey Lori," Lincoln greeted the oldest sibling of the family while entering the room with Lisa behind him. Lori was obsessed with her phone and her boyfriend Bobby, though Lincoln wondered why Bobby was hospitalized by messing up juggling. He guessed he had juggled something heavy or sharp, and failed miserably.

"I'm on the phone right now. What is it, Linc?" Lori asked while covering the lower part of her cellphone to not talk over her friend. A lot of the siblings saw Lori as a second mother to them, even if she could occasionally be very scary and hostile when mad or upset.

"We wanted to know if you would be so kind as to drive us somewhere," Lisa requested. The oldest blonde girl rolled her eyes. Being the only sibling with a license in the family sometimes made things nightmarish. Leni was old enough for a license, and Lori and the entire family had tried to teach their sister how to drive, but it always ended with police visits.

"Go away you two, I'm busy," Lori replied, not in the mood to go out anywhere. The super intelligent child scratched her head, having expected that answer. Lincoln patted her head, trying to get her to relax. He walked around to stand in front of his oldest sister.

"Lori it's really important. I'll make you a deal. If you take us there I'll give you massages for the next month, any time, any day, whenever you say or want them," Lincoln offered an exchange. He wished he could say it was a bad thing, but half the time he wound up doing the same for Lynn when trying to help her with pain or stress in her muscles when she went overboard when playing.

"…I'll call you back," Lori hung up the phone instantly before hopping up.

"Alright you two, let's go!" she more enthusiastically said, pulling out her spare key to the family van. Lisa and Lincoln smiled as the two followed her downstairs.

"I hope there isn't too much stuff in the basement, if we have to take everything there…" Lincoln hoped.


	4. The Majesty

**Authors Note: I'm glad that you all are liking this fic so far, it already has over 1000 views! Thank you so much enjoy. Though I am surprised I have been updating it daily.**

The drive was long but they tolerated it. The family van, Vanzilla, was a lot more tolerable when there was only the three of them. Lisa had the best seat and was more than happy with the seating. Lincoln was in the front seat beside Lori during the drive. The weather began to change, and there would be a rainstorm coming in soon. It meant all the plans Lincoln had to play with his sisters outside would be cancelled, even if it wasn't happening at all.

"Uhh… are you sure you gave me the right address, Lisa?" Lori quirked as they pulled up to the driveway of a miniature mansion, the entrance to it blocked off to them by a gate.

"I'm 99.99% positive that this is Vernan's home… When he received it, he bragged about how lucky he was to have inherited it," Lisa groaned, wondering what they would do now. The gate needed an access code to let them in, the keypad being right beside the driveway. They watched Lincoln hop out of the van, briefly leaving the passenger side door open.

"Aaaaaand there we go," Lincoln smirked after inputting the code, watching the gate begin to automatically slide open. He returned to the van, closing the door back with his usual smile.

"How did you know the code?" Lisa was astonished.

"It was the same as the briefcase. Vernan was about as smart with his passwords as most," Lincoln confidently smirked. A common problem for many was making their password the same thing for everything they used for simplicity's sake. It backfired horribly if someone bad got ahold of the important password, the white haired boy made a lot of effort to make all his passwords different, even if he forgot half of them.

"So what are we doing here?" Lori asked as they pulled into the front yard of the mansion, the oldest girl watching her younger siblings get out of the van. She took the keys out of the ignition before following the two up the steps to the front door.

"We're getting important things from the basement… that's what he told us to do," the white haired boy pulled out the key from his pocket and put it into the lock, hearing the latch turn before it allowed them to open the door and step inside.

"Of course this weirdo did… if I have to do any heavy lifting, you'll be giving me a massage when we get home," Lori reminded her only brother of their agreement.

"Don't worry, your smooth skin makes it worth it," Lincoln smirked as he eased his oldest sister off with a compliment. That did the trick, thankfully. Lisa looked for a way to the basement. The living room was full of antiques and knickknacks.

"Huh… I didn't know Vernan was a travel-the-world type…" Lincoln confessed. Beside a lot of the items were different pictures of Vernan with random people, of various cultures and nationalities. It seemed whatever country he went to aid, he got a small memento as a present of gratitude.

"Oh… my… gosh!" Lori gasped. Her younger siblings came straight over to her, thinking she had discovered something important, but unfortunately not.

"Seriously, Lori?" Lisa rubbed her head.

"What? They're adorable! Look at them!" Lori retorted. She had her attention grabbed by several rabbits that were in a pen that connected to the pen outside. The one inside let the various colored bunnies escape from the bad weather when needed. The short blonde haired girl was taking pictures of the rabbits with her cellphone.

"As cute as they are, I'll help Lisa keep looking. We'll call you when we need you," Lincoln told Lori. He wished he could play with the bunnies too, but this was an important mission they were on. The white haired boy continued off with his genius sister.

"We should be thankful there aren't any maids or caretakers home," Lisa stated. It was a lucky break for them. Her brother could only agree, but thought they should call one if they could find a phone number. If Vernan really was in danger of losing his life, someone had to take care of his animals and possessions for him.

"Finally, I think this is it," Lincoln claimed when they saw a bigger door waiting to be opened. It had a sign on it, reading 'Laboratory be careful!'

"Hope there is nothing radioactive down here," Lisa opened the door. There was a long, eerily dark stairwell, and a light switch on the wall. When they flicked the switch, it turned on the light of a small light bulb that was dangling from wires loosely, but that barely illuminated the staircase.

"Reminds me of that time we went ghost hunting. Never knew how violent that could be," Lincoln commented as their feet made a loud echo when treading the stairs as they made their way down, the floorboards creaking beneath them.

"You're the one who tampered with my ectoplasm pulse radar," Lisa reminded him. Her only brother grinned nervously. He had accidentally drawn ghosts to their home at one point. They had to deal with them before their family got home. They managed to do it somehow but it was terrifying nonetheless.

"My optical receptors must be tricking me," Lisa took her glasses off, unable to believe what she was seeing, Lincoln was in the same thought process as her. The basement they entered was full of objects and tools, the walls plastered with research notes practically, but their attention was drawn to a small platform in the center of the room.

"What is this…?" Lincoln wondered. In the platform's glass chamber was a medium-sized ball that looked like it had energy in it, the kind of energy that the monster had been extracting of people. The young boy could tell something different, that the energy was golden colored and spinning quite calmly.

"This appears to be the heart of the Guardian Project," Lisa commented on the power source, guessing this was what was inside one of the meteors that the military had taken. Vernan had worked hard to get it. Lincoln hit a button and watched the container begin to raise, the white haired boy taking the energy sphere.

"I'll take care of it," the teenage boy insisted, putting it into his pocket. The two could see odd red metal set up on a workbench beside many tools, none of it had been given shape yet but it looked odd nonetheless.

"Gruynithil?! Th-there's so much of it!" Lisa exclaimed, holding one of the red alloy pieces, though her older brother had a sudden realization that made this almost magical discovery turn quite irritating.

"Uh… Lisa, I wanna see all the cool stuff here too, but… we have to take everything from the basement… everything we need," Lincoln reminded her. Lisa regained her straight faced composure.

"Erm… correct… Sometimes, science breaks the law to make progress, I suppose," Lisa rationalized excuses to take the astral material. Lincoln did not judge her. They both were curious where and how Vernan got a decent supply of it. The two began to grab their fair share of the alloy and then go up the steps to get it loaded into the van, they needed every tool in the basement as well, Lisa having not owned a single one but they all were needed to complete the Guardian Project.

"Lori! We need help carrying all… this," Lincoln exhaled in disappointment, seeing Lori seated there taking a selfie while making the cutest face she could, while holding a rabbit in her free hand beside her cheek.

"Oh! Uh… I-I was just… taking pictures for chirper?" Lori tried to excuse this, claiming she was going to put it online. Lincoln rested the alloy down, and took the bunny from her hand.

"Hey there little guy. Sorry, but we gotta handle this," Lincoln told the rabbit while resting it back in its pen, watching it go back to its natural routine, Lori was disappointed but understood ready to help them. The young boy went and got the alloy before continuing on their way with two big baskets full of items. The three of them were going to spend a lot of time carrying things from the basement to the van. He just hoped the Guardian Project would not be needed anytime soon.

In the confines of an eldritch realm, a castle floated in perpetual motion, slowly rotating, sustained from heavy damage it seemed.

"Such a slow, annoying progress…" The monster, the same one who confronted Lincoln, yawned as he tread down the hall. He saw various statues, and the brick walls' ominous purple shade that made it appear as if they were almost alive, same for the many paintings that lined the walls.

"Zeggfor!" A loud booming voice roared. Zeggfor resumed his long pace down the tattered carpet. After a few minutes, he went through a giant pair of wide open doors. The blue monster looked around when he entered his master's chambers. The tone inside the room was even darker than the outside of this castle.

"Yes, your majesty?" Zeggfor chimed in with a bow. Along the walls within the corners was nothing but hundreds of piles of hundreds of bones. At the end of the room was a shaded figure sitting upon a throne, with three other creatures alongside them, unable to be seen. But they were keeping silent under their majesty's' order clearly.

"What is taking so long? I've waited for a millennium just to be awoken, and here you are, gathering measly amounts of essence. That is barely enough to make up for the essence used to get into the human world in the first place!" The majesty demanded, watching his subject go onto one knee before him.

"I do apologize deeply, your majesty… I am working as fast as I can while trying not to alert humans to our presence… unfortunately, there was one I was unable to drain the essence from, which is a shame they seemed like a reservoir of essence for life," Zeggfor apologized, before a blast of thunder shot across the room, striking him in the chest and making a small explosion of sparks, sending him flying into one of the many piles of bones that fell clattering, a few being broken.

"I don't even know why I bother to let such a coward survive… if you could not take their life essence, then that just means you are too weak," the majesty declared. Zeggfor rose from the bones, shaking his head.

"My apologies, your majesty… But if we rush into this, then this could very well spell the end of us. Their weapons may be primitive, but they still have immense numbers compared to us… and to bring you into the human world with your power intact would require the essence of hundreds of thousands at minimum," Zeggfor declared, narrowly dodging another lightning bolt strike that sent bone fragments everywhere.

"My patience has grown thin. We're through being silent. Revive as many textoth from the core as you can. After you gain enough essence, we can begin reviving the generals. We can only spare enough essence for so many at the moment, so make sure not to fail, or we are reset a thousand years," the majesty ordered. Zeggfor nodded as he stepped toward the center of the room.

"Worry not, your majesty. Humans have so many means to lose their essence. It makes me feel regretful, almost," the blue monster watched as part of the floor spread apart in front of them, and an eerie floating meteor like sphere slowly rose from it.

"Lend us your power, Great Core," Zeggfor placed his hand on it. The high volume of various colored essence energy began to get drawn into it from his body. Once he had given the essence to the core, it began to glow and wildly spin.

"Allow the beginning of the Xeran's revival to begin," the majesty declared as dozens of skeletons began to rise up, suddenly in a flash, gaining a red and green striped bodies, and masks that resembled faces of a jack-o-lantern, the eyes and mouth glowing with different colors.

"Fallen warriors of history turned to our slaves… Ah, I love justice ever so much… right, textoth! We'll begin the essence theft in twenty-four hours when the portal is ready, failure will not be tolerated," Zeggfor declared. The textoth, the skeletal figures turned creatures, all cheered in agreement.

The majesty watched from the throne, confident for the plans they had made to successfully unfold. "This… is what a king deserves… but as the majesty, I deserve far more."


	5. Support

**Authors Note: I apologize for this dear viewers, the review system appears to be broken once again. But I want you all to know I can see your reviews in the email notifications now, I hope you enjoy the story and take care.**

It was around dinnertime in the Loud House now after that long day for Lincoln, Lori and Lisa. They had spent the last three hours getting everything into Lisa's room and making sure none of it got in the way of the other siblings' activities. Lincoln sat at the kids table in the kitchen, with the younger half of the family.

"Goo goo," the youngest of the loud family, Lily loud, spoke while sitting in her high chair in a white shirt and diaper.

"Lily you're getting more of it on you than in you," Lincoln laughed lightly while wiping off his baby sister's face with a rag. He always did his best to make sure she at least got most of her plate cleaned off.

"At least you ate most of it on your own this time," Lincoln smiled. She had at least eaten all the peas and mini carrots on her own this time. If there was a food fight in the kitchen, it could be pinned on Lily throwing something from her plate and then someone else blaming another for it.

"Where's Lisa?" Lincoln's gothic sister, Lucy, spoke at the kids table.

"Oh… she said she wasn't feeling good enough to eat, so she went to lie down," Lincoln answered what he had been told, while feeding Lily since he had finished his dinner early. The kids table felt a lot quieter today for some reason. He guessed that everyone was just tired from playing outside most of today.

"Ohh… that sucks," one of the third youngest, Lana, said in reply, her messy blonde hair being covered by her red cap.

"Should we take her dessert?" Offered Lola, the spoiled twin of Lana in a purple dress and her favorite tiara. They were next to impossible to tell apart whenever they were kicking up a fight. Both twins still had their gap in their teeth from a tooth they both had lost, for some odd reason their adult teeth would not grow whatsoever.

"I'll go ask," Lincoln volunteered. Lisa was probably tired from all the heavy lifting done today at Vernan's to get all the items from his basement. Lincoln saw no sign of Lynn and Leni either, but figured they had finished their dinners early as well.

"I don't know why I feel so… weird now," Lincoln wondered to himself. He felt something playing with his nerves all over his body. It was not a bad feeling, but rather a light fluttery feeling. He just guessed that perhaps it was the start of puberty. His father had talked to him about the fact his body would be going through weird changes.

"Oh right, I forgot to give this to Lisa," the teenage boy realized, reaching into his hoods pocket and pulling out the small sphere of golden energy. It was swirling so brightly that it was almost captivating.

"Lisa, can I come in?" Lincoln knocked on the door, but he did not receive a response, but rather he heard the sound of power tools instead, he took that as enough of an answer opening the door with the energy ball in his other hand.

"I came to give you… this…?" Lincoln witnessed all of the schematics and blueprints on the walls. Lisa was there, working away at her foldout workbench that looked to have been broken twice, and welded back together each time.

"Lisa, what's going on?" The teenager went to her side. The girl in glasses finally realized he was here, putting down the precision laser cutter she had been using on the astral metal.

"Oh, hello Lincoln just in time with the energy core thankfully," Lisa greeted him, taking the golden energy filled sphere from him. Lincoln realized there were designs for a kind of suit that Lisa was working on.

"What is this?" Lincoln questioned, picking up something from the workbench. He saw it as a weird, unfinished gauntlet, but something seemed strange about it.

"Please do not touch what is incomplete. These are what I have created thus far, they are parts of the Guardian Project," Lisa declared. Her only brother watched her put the energy sphere into a star with curved tips, it did not seem like part of the suit as Lincoln could tell.

"I'm glad you kept this on you. If we lost it while moving everything, we would never have been able to complete the Guardian Project," Lisa exclaimed while beginning to attach the metal to cover the energy sphere within the curved tipped star. Lincoln could tell something was on her mind. She was not acting like her normal self.

"Lisa, you've been in here almost ever since we got back. You didn't play outside with me and the others, either. We even got Lori to join us after her massage… what's going on? If you keep working like this, you'll burnout that big brain of yours."

Lisa removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I… just didn't realize how little time there was…"

"What do you mean?" Lincoln rubbed her back, seeing her saddened frown.

"A colleague of mine called, and they informed me that I don't have a rival anymore, Lincoln… No one to directly challenge my creations or trying to outdo me specifically," Lisa picked up one of the many horribly organized documents beside her. The teen knew what she was talking about.

"Vernan's really dead…?" Lincoln questioned in semi-disbelief. The elder had barely been harmed by that monster, and his life was still over. It did nothing but confirm that the monster the two confronted really did exist, unfortunately the only one who had survived that encounter it seemed was Lincoln.

"A man who traveled the world and remained healthy, he was one of the fittest elders I knew… but his heart gave out for no known cause," Lisa explained in an eerily detailed manner. It was mortifying to know that the person she saw this very morning for a friendly visit was now gone later at the same day.

"Lisa… I'm sorry… I guess that's why you're working hard?" Lincoln gave his condolences, but he guessed she was working to their limit to fulfill this final request of Vernon's. He had entrusted them with the Guardian Project after all.

"I feel so… horrible. I treated him like some walking monster who paid others to create his inventions for him, but… all I was actually doing was being disrespectful to an elder who worked his hands and mind to the bone, and I was cruel to him out of spite for beating me… like an immature child," Lisa sniffled, confirming Lincoln's suspicions. He was very surprised to hear her out of all people talking like this. Lincoln knew his sister. She never would judge a person by their looks, and Vernan was someone she had known for over a year. He decided it was time to chime in with his thoughts.

"Lisa, look at me," Lincoln requested. Lisa put her glasses back on, looking at his face that she saw radiating with a reassuring aura, "You didn't treat him bad. You would have sabotaged him if you really hated him that much, and thought he was some unintelligent jerk. Instead, you treated him like a teacher challenging a student, and he treated you like that student… And I hate to say it, but just because someone is older than you doesn't mean they deserve your respect by default. I mean, hey, you don't respect me after all."

"What are you saying…?" Lisa was perplexed as she listened.

"You two were trying to help as many people as you could with your inventions, and everyone respects you both for it. Remember the photos we saw in his house? Fame and glory is one thing, but it won't compare to seeing someone smile when you help them get their feet back on the ground and their hearts back into life," Lincoln was glad to have shared his true thoughts with Lisa. She would not listen if he tried to beat around the bush and simply tell her to not feel bad about someone dying during the midst of a rivalry.

"When did you become so… philosophically smart?" Lisa felt a lot better. Lincoln rubbed her head.

"I'm not smart, Lisa. All I did was tell you what you already knew," Lincoln smiled, feeling her wrap her small arms around his neck in gratitude. He gladly returned the hug.

"…but to debunk part of your speech… I do respect you, Lincoln," Lisa claimed. The white haired boy was surprised. She really never showed it, in fact a lot of his family did not show it at all, but he was glad to hear it nonetheless.

"Thanks, Lisa… how close is the Guardian Project to being done? I want to be ready for when that monster comes around," Lincoln grinned excitedly. Lisa still did not believe in monsters, but clearly something supernatural had occurred today.

"I…I don't know. I want to work more on it, but my limitations are being stretched. I don't understand half of this… and after all, what makes you think you'd get to wear the Guardian Project?" Lisa replied. It seemed like the Guardian Project was a form of super suit. She wondered why her brother would get to wear it out of all people in the world.

"Well it's not like we have any way to call this top picked military soldier… and I really don't think the army would be happy when they find out we have a stockpile of the gruynithil…" Lincoln answered, seeing her adjust her glasses while looking at the unfinished gauntlet, her mind buzzing with plenty of ideas and modifications that could be made to Vernan's original designs and plans.

"Lincoln, out of everyone in this family, you are probably the third best choice for the Guardian Project," Lisa retorted, not going into detail about how long they would serve in juvenile hall if arrested, most likely until they were adults.

"Third?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "Who tops me?"

"Lori is second, and Lynn is first," Lisa answered. Just then, a small fire accidentally began from one of the many new tools, the prodigy pulling out her emergency fire extinguisher and spraying briefly to extinguish it quickly.

"Oh, come on… they shouldn't put themselves in danger or in this position. They have too many things to do," Lincoln argued. Lynn was caught up with dozens of sports activities and a schedule based around that, whilst Lori had her clique of friends and her boyfriend Bobby.

"Lincoln, are you concerned because Lynn loves you?" Lisa quirked while returning the fire extinguisher to underneath the workbench alongside the other three in the row.

"Of course I'm worried. I love her too… and Lori, and you… I love everyone in this house," Lincoln claimed. The young girl rolled her eyes. How her brother was this oblivious was beyond her and her super intelligence, it seemed like everyone knew of this oddity beyond him.

"I really wish people would quit reminding me of Ronnie Anne…" The white haired boy wished things were simpler. Whenever someone spoke about love, it reminded him of his former girlfriend and bully. Their relationship had been kept secret from his family due to their meddling, but when his ex was being bullied, he took initiative and tried to fight for her, but he only received two black eyes for his trouble and a broken heart. Ronnie Anne really hated how much he tried to express his care for her, trying to fight her battles was the last straw in that matter.

"You really need to talk to her," Lisa claimed as she connected two wires. Sparks began shooting off from them once connected. Apparently that was a good sign.

"I don't know if we should tell her about the Guardian Project… at least not yet. I'd rather tell them once it's finished…" Lincoln rubbed his head, "…How about I help you work on it? I'm not smart but you tell me what to do and it'll work out."

Lisa pondered on this for a moment, and exhaled. "An extra pair of hands operated by another pair of eyes… I suppose it'd be better to make sure someone is here to reaffirm my safety."

"Alright!" Lincoln gave a thumbs up and his bright smile, ready to help.

"Grab a pair of goggles and some gloves. It's going to be a long night," Lisa said. Lincoln did as he told with a confident smile.

"Let's finish the Guardian Project, for Vernan!"

"Wow… so he does like Lynn back… well, I lost at rock paper scissors, so I have to tell her what I heard," Leni had been sent by Lynn to secretly listen to Lincoln after losing a small bet over a friendly game, and she ended up hearing Lincoln talk about loving Lynn and everyone else in the house. She went off to go tell Lynn what she heard.


	6. Late Night

"I'm telling you what I heard just like you wanted. I don't see what the problem is," Leni sat in Lynn and Lucy's room, talking to Lynn herself. Lucy wasn't there, but in the basement, apparently needing to communicate with her dark overlord or other form of eldritch spirit. The family never could keep up with all of it, but they just let Lucy do as she pleased.

"But… again, what did you hear? I…I just can't believe it," Lynn was in her usual nightwear, which was just her jersey and underwear, though the long shirt covered it anyhow.

"Come on, Lynn, you've made me say it five times…" The second oldest Loud sibling whined, but knew she had to repeat what her tiny mind could remember. She had overheard the entire conversation Lincoln and Lisa had. However, trying to remember it all was the issue. It was jumbled up, and parts of it were gone from Leni's small mind.

"Please, Leni I don't want to go about this the wrong way…" Lynn begged. She had fallen in love for her brother two years ago. At first, she ignored the feelings, but they kept growing. She herself knew that it was crazy. Eventually, multiple family members learned, but kept it secret from their parents, leaving it to their sibling to handle this between themselves, if it made them happy then they were not going to oppose it.

"Lisa was telling Lincoln he should talk to you, and… Lincoln wants to be your guardian or something? I did hear him say to Lisa that he was worried about you because he loved you," Leni reiterated what she could remember. Once again she wasn't lying. However, how far out of context it was being taken was the issue.

"My guardian…?" Lynn felt a light feeling in her chest. The long haired blonde girl was glad to see her happy, but she was not the best at giving advice nor had a good memory at all. Leni only had one relationship in her life and that did not go well, since the boy she had been dating took advantage of her to make another woman jealous.

"I should go talk to him," Lynn got out of bed, but Leni stopped her.

"Lynn, I don't know what all is going on, but Lisa's upset right now about a friend dying… I think Lincoln's trying to comfort her right now. He'll talk to you soon enough about this," Leni claimed. She had heard about Vernan's passing, and Lisa's upset tone was enough of a sign that it was a sensitive enough situation.

"Alright… Guess I'm just anxious," Lynn exhaled, trying to calm down. She hated waiting for her brother to come talk to her first, but she hoped that maybe it would be the start of a change. Still, she would feel a million times better once he was aware of her feelings, even if he shot them down completely. Lynn was more glad the other sisters were leaving this to them.

"Try to get some rest. I'll see you in the morning," Leni bid her younger sister goodnight before heading for the door.

"Alright thanks for everything, Leni! I owe you," Lynn smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I did lose at rock paper scissors fair and square," Leni assured. Soon, everyone would be getting to bed. Tomorrow was Sunday, so it was the last day of the weekend to enjoy while it lasted, before they had to return to school.

The night in the Loud House was calm, but Lincoln and Lisa were still awake and working away, their parents letting them stay up late since they rarely saw the two of them getting along so well, it was nice to see them bonding in a sense.

"Wow… being an inventor hurts," Lincoln commented, looking down at his heavily bandaged hands. The two had moved their work into the garage when Lola and Lana were going to bed. They did not want to keep them awake over their personal work, Lincoln had burnt and cut his hand a lot on accident.

"Just another sign of progress," Lisa said, the two looking over what they had so far. The suit was nowhere near done, as they had spent most of the late evening finishing the gauntlet alone.

"I didn't know you were so good at designing styles," Lincoln commented, impressed. He picked up the now finished gauntlet. It was golden with a few white stripes running along around it, and it had an oval shape to it and appeared to be able to cover his entire forearm as well as the back of his hand.

"I have to make my inventions look presentable after all," Lisa reminded her brother. Lincoln felt the grooves and the small calm detail etched onto the golden gauntlet, noticing an opening in the back of it and something concealed in the front of it that he could not get out.

"This alloy is also extremely durable," Lisa claimed, pulling out a hammer and smacking the gauntlet. It shook in her brother's hand, but there was no damage, not even a scratch in the paint or a dent.

"What is this gauntlet? It's like a shield," Lincoln claimed. To witness the gauntlet's sheer sturdiness was nice to him. Their labor had paid off so far that it was worth all the hammer hits, the cuts and burns to his hands.

"It has multiple purposes, but this is more or less the lock to the Guardian Project… this being the key," Lisa hummed, presenting the tip curved star that now appeared to be radiating with an aura of golden essence. It was as if the gauntlet wanted him to use it with the star.

"Huh… what's this funny feeling about?" Lincoln questioned, holding his chest in confusion. Once again, it felt like feathers running gently along his nerves. It wasn't ticklish, but the feeling alone was enough to make him worry.

"Did you drink anything from my lab?" Lisa asked. As depressing as it was, somehow her siblings had on multiple occasions mistook her beakers contents for soda or juice. The child prodigy had no idea how, but if she could trick someone into testing something for her with no effort, she would take it.

"No, I was with you the whole time tonight," Lincoln kept looking over the gauntlet. He was about to slip his arm into it, but his second youngest sister halted him before he could.

"Lincoln, that's dangerous! There haven't been any tests done! And again, you aren't the most ideal to wear this," Lisa reminded him as she took it and rested it on the workbench. Lincoln looked disappointed at the reminder. He still did not believe Lori or Lynn would wear it, even when offered the chance.

"…wow, it's late," Lincoln noticed on a clock on the wall that it was 2:18am. The two had been working hour after hour, so much so that this had been their first real break. The child prodigy took the gauntlet from him and put it on the workbench next to her laptop.

"You should go to sleep, Lincoln. You aren't as used to the nocturnal nightlife as I am," Lisa said. Lincoln raised an eyebrow before he was handed the curved tipped star.

"What are you giving me this for? You should go to bed, too. I don't think working this late will get much done for you…" Lincoln replied. He was confused, she would not trust him with the gauntlet of the Guardian Project, yet his sister was giving him the supposed key for it.

"Having nine others running around unpredictably can disrupt any possible chance of nap time. But it's naturally safer if we keep one of each part within each other's close proximity. I'll go to bed soon," Lisa explained while promising to get some rest soon herself. The two would most likely be sleeping in late tomorrow due to the late night antics.

"Well… alright, Lisa. Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow," Lincoln bid her goodnight, thinking they might be able to finish the Guardian Project sometime tomorrow. He put the curved star away in his pocket before he left the garage to make his way through the dark house to get to his room.

"Alright… No holding back, Lisa. You can't be afraid of catastrophic failure…" Lisa gulped, ready to work. She opened the laptop and connected a few wires to several pieces of the Guardian Project. This was going to be a long night for her.

"Something isn't right…" Lincoln exhaled while putting on his pajamas, having just finished buttoning his orange shirt. He looked at Charles, the dog, who lay on his back on the bed as if he had fallen asleep when begging for belly rubs.

"Guess I've become a paranoid wreck," Lincoln laughed at himself. He believed that maybe the monster had struck a lot more of a deeper terror into his head than he realized. Fear could do a lot to a person's mind, it can even spawn nightmares.

"You sure don't look like one, bro," he heard. Luna, his aspiring rock-loving sister, was behind him. He saw her in her usual pixie haircut and long purple shirt with its front skull symbol.

"Oh, hey Luna. What are you doing up this late?" Lincoln greeted her.

"Could be askin' you the same thing, bro. I was going to get Lily a bottle when I saw you walkin' up… having some personal issues?" Luna shared her bedroom with Luan and Lily, but since she often woke up first to the youngest one's cries, their parents had decided to let Lily's crib be in their room, Luna was pretty great with Lily really.

"No worse than usual," Lincoln shrugged. They both seemed to be equally tired. He usually got along really well with Luna. Right now, he could tell she was worried for him.

"Main reason I ask is because someone creeping around in the dark coming from the garage, would make that someone look like they don't want anyone to hear anything bad," Luna said teasingly. Lincoln realized what she was getting at, but shook his head. Privacy was barely a thing in the Loud House. Everyone would know if he did that.

"So what's something someone wouldn't want others upstairs to hear in the middle of the night?" She then rhetorically asked. Her bucktoothed brother scratched his cheek.

"A car horn?" Lincoln guessed, not realizing the way she had tried setting up into her own theory. He loved Luna to bits, but she was one of the more coddling with him, or as he referred, a member of the priority one meddlers who would be involved way before the rest.

"I'm asking if you're alright, Lincoln… you look like you've been crying," Luna said. Lincoln looked at his mirror momentarily. For some reason, his eyes had turned red from irritation. He imagined the constant gaze of barely blinking when working on the Guardian Project did that, or having bright tools shined in his eyes for too long.

"I haven't been crying. I was downstairs helping Lisa with the Guardian Project," Lincoln claimed, but he knew him and Lisa probably had the most unusual sibling friendship in the Loud House, but in a day's time that had improved a lot.

"Guardian Project? …Sounds like a cool game bro, but seriously, if there's a problem going on, you can tell me," Luna brushed it off as two of her younger siblings playing a video game together, but she did not really buy it since she saw him coming from the garage.

"I was attacked today by some weird monster if that counts as a problem?" Lincoln did not hesitate to confess, since he presumed Lisa was going to inform everyone of the Guardian Project once it was done anyway, therefore he would be telling them all about his encounter.

"A monster…?" The rock loving sibling obviously did not believe him, that and her little brother didn't have any injuries on him to show he was attacked. The worst she saw was a tiny scratch on his forehead that looked like it had came from his own fingernails when scratching an itch, his hands were bandaged but anything could have done that.

"Bro, get some sleep. We can talk about your problem with mom or someone else tomorrow if you want?" Luna offered. Lincoln wrapped his arms around her stomach, giving her a thankful hug.

"Thanks, Luna. Don't worry though. I'd let you know right away if something was going on," Lincoln claimed. That was mostly true, though he had told no one of Ronnie Anne and his break up recently. It was still somewhat having its toll on him despite it being weeks ago.

"Alright bro… You have a goodnight. Don't forget Bun-bun," Luna told him while giving his precious stuffed toy to him.

"Goodnight, Luna. Thanks a lot," Lincoln held onto the toy as he watched her head off to get Lily's bottle, upon hearing the youngest sibling crying.

"She didn't believe me, Charles… guess I don't blame her though. I still barely believe it," Lincoln spoke to the dog while rubbing his stomach. He climbed into his bed and got under his blankets with Bun-bun.

"Goodnight, Charles," the white haired boy rested his head on his pillow, cuddling Bun-bun close to him to help keep him comforted in his slumber.

"I hope tomorrow is at least calm…"


	7. The First Attack

It was lunchtime now for the Loud House. The parents had gone out to run errands, and right now Lincoln and Lori were in the kitchen, both wearing aprons and working away on preparing lunch.

"Why did you want to cook for lunch this time anyway?" Lori asked, at the moment working with her younger brother to try and finish getting this ready. He had talked her into agreeing to it, only because it was either they cooked fresh, ordered out, or had leftovers from the refrigerator. Nobody liked the third option.

"I thought it'd be a nice change… Come on, don't tell me you aren't looking forward to fresh hot pizza," Lincoln answered with a smile. Lori couldn't help but try and enjoy this, she was happy just seeing him happy and excited to be doing this for everybody.

"Having a few guaranteed slices with what I want on them is nice," Lori nodded. One problem with having ten children wanting pizza was that rarely did anyone want the same thing as the other. The number would only rise once Lily was old enough to eat a wider variety of food. Making their own pizza would at least let everyone be able to get a share of their own toppings.

"hey, have you two seen Lisa?" They heard the voice of their comedic sister Luan, stopping what they were doing. Lincoln had been working on the sauce while Lori had been preparing the dough.

"She's probably still asleep," the white haired teen claimed since the child prodigy had been up later than him.

"I was just in there. She isn't in bed," Luan appeared to them. She was in a green and yellow plaid shirt and long pants. Depending on the season, she would switch between changing her plaid skirt or shirt, if she was in a great mood she would wear both. Her buck teeth and braces were as prominent as Lincoln's, the young thankfully had not needed heavy dental care yet.

"Maybe she's just showering," Lincoln suggested, his older sister fixing her brown hair into a ponytail with a yellow band.

"No, I just got out of the bathroom. I wanted to see if she'd have a way to treat my mental block," Luan claimed she was suffering from a comedian's common woes, which was the pain of drawing blanks, though she still was on point with puns.

"Have you tried hanging upside down?" Lincoln suggested that she try to think from a different angle by getting the blood flowing to her head. Lori continued to work on the pizza, not of much help in the conversation.

"That's not a bad idea! I'll be 'hanging' around if you need me," Luan smirked. Lori groaned in disapproval of the pun, but Lincoln lightly laughed. Her puns lately had been something he always laughed at, even if they were not good.

"…I think I know where Lisa is," Lincoln suddenly had that light bulb flick on in his head, taking off his apron and resting it on the counter. Lori let her little brother go to check and see if he could actually find Lisa, aware that he would not abandon her to this task alone. Lori was not the best with cooking, mainly because she always lost track of time on her phone and let her meal get burnt.

"Lisa? You in here?" Lincoln stepped into the garage, seeing the light bulb flickering from needing a replacement. He found Lisa at the workbench in the garage, slumped over it and asleep.

"So you did stay up all night," he sighed. It appeared Lisa had ignored his request. He saw her laptop open with wires strewed everywhere, several connected to the golden gauntlet.

"Hm…?" The laptop monitor showed a window flashing the words 'ready' and requesting permission to commit the final program. Lincoln hit the enter key to let it do as it had requested.

"Come on Lisa. You need to go to bed. I hate wasting a day too, but you shouldn't have stayed up all night," Lincoln shook her slightly, but there was no reaction. He picked her up and carried her off upstairs to let her get some proper rest. Meanwhile, the gauntlet began to release steam as its color began to change from golden to blazing red.

"Is she alright?" Lynn saw Lincoln come up the stairs, carrying the snoring Lisa in his arms. Thankfully she was not too heavy.

"Yeah. She just stayed up too late again," Lincoln wondered if his sporty sister needed anything. She was acting odd around him lately. If he hadn't upset her by complete accident somehow, he still was concerned.

"So… you and Lori are making pizza?" Lynn asked as she followed him to the younger kids' room.

"Yeah. You want pepperoni and onions on yours right?" Lincoln rested Lisa into her bed before taking off her glasses, resting them on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Sure do, thanks…" Lynn nodded. Every response was awkward and did little to aid the confused atmosphere. Lynn was going to have to force this conversation along, "…I heard about you wanting to be my… uh… my guardian?"

Lincoln quirked an eyebrow, but nodded presuming she was referring to the Guardian Project. "Yeah… I know you're pretty strong but I want to be able to take care of you and the others, y'know, so I can be useful."

"You are really useful, but I can take care of myself… Thanks for being worried though," Lynn thanked him with a small blush on her face. Lincoln never recognized Lynn's love for him, he was more oblivious than his own father at times. As they began to make their way back downstairs, Lynn wanted to talk to him about it right now, but she remembered Leni's words to not rush into anything and wait for him to confront her about it.

"Everyone! Something's going on!" Luna called out from the living room. Something had come up on the emergency broadcast channel. Lincoln and Lynn hurried to get downstairs, everyone else quickly gathering as well, except Lisa and Lily both who were asleep upstairs.

"What's going on?" Leni asked as Luna turned up the volume on the television. The screen broad casted a recording set in the shopping district in downtown, a popular place for travelers passing through Royal Woods to go or families on vacation.

"…Here we are at a hopefully safe distance. Authorities first received reports of strange people in costumes running around harassing individuals… things have escalated as we speak, as there are now twenty madmen running around, attacking people and stealing something from their victims, police chief insists everyone remain indoors until this is resolved," the news reporter exclaimed as she let the camera focus on the background.

"What in the…" Lincoln gasped, seeing a bunch of the dressed people attacking other people, taking their essence and energy from the people they grabbed, just like he saw happen to Vernan. He never had seen textoh before, it was scary to say the least.

"Oh gosh…" Luan gulped, seeing the insane people going on a rampage. Lola and Lana were holding each other in fear. Lincoln wondered what to do, if there was anything he could do. He knew this had something to do with that monster he encountered yesterday.

"Police have tried subduing the criminals, but they don't react much to pepper spray, tazers or bullets… as result of this miniature riot not being able to be stopped, SWAT teams are preparing to move out," the news woman claimed. They suddenly saw one of the textoth sneak up on the reporter.

"Watch out!" One of the cameramen shouted, and the reporter screamed, feeling her hair and her face get grabbed the textoth, which began to extract a bright pink energy from her. Once it was all pulled out and absorbed, it kicked her away into the camera. The broadcast ended abruptly right here.

"…What was that?" Leni spoke first of the terrified family.

"Maybe we were just watching some publicity stunt for a movie…?" Lori suggested. She thought the scene had special effects in it. While the sisters all talked back and forth, their only brother was deep in his own thoughts.

"No… that wasn't a movie trailer. Those people were genuinely terrified…" Lincoln thought. The tone of their voices, the screams and cries, it all was so bad that it truly came from the terror of the heart. No amount of acting skill could perfectly replicate it. He suddenly had the idea hit him.

"The Guardian Project! It must be done by now…" Lincoln headed off for the garage while everyone else was busy talking amongst themselves. The white haired boy saw the red shield like gauntlet stationed there.

"…Should I get Lynn or Lori…?" Lincoln asked himself while taking the gauntlet into his hand. It looked sturdy enough to survive a lot of attacks, but he wondered if the Guardian Project should be entrusted to him at all.

Lincoln pulled out the curved tipped star from his pocket, the lock and key both in his grasp. On one hand, his sisters were both better to be wielding this than him. One was older and the other was a lot stronger, as well as athletic. He wished Lisa was awake right now so he could beg her for advice.

"Huh…?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow, noticing that strange energy essence coming from his arm, spiraling up his forearm and pouring into the star like it was withdrawing it from him. The star changed its coloration from the bright yellow to red to match the gauntlet. He gripped it tight in his hand.

"Got it… I'll do it," Lincoln took this as enough of a sign from himself. He slipped the gauntlet onto his right forearm, strapping it tightly on, feeling the bindings around his wrist and down his arm.

"Wish I knew where the suit was, but… these should do good enough alone," Lincoln put the red curved star away into his pocket. He grabbed Lynn's bicycle, hoping she would not mind him stealing it a second time. He went out the side door of the garage, not wanting to alert anyone to his departure after something that terrifying had occurred on television, as he doubted anyone would want to go outside until the problem was resolved.

"Hope I can pull this off…"


	8. Playing Hero

**Authors Note: I wanted to say thank you all, for the fic hitting 3000 views already in such a short few chapters. I hope you enjoy, take care!**

Lincoln arrived downtown after a twenty minute ride on his bicycle. Unfortunately, he could not access the shopping district. Most of the entrances to the area had been blocked off by police squad cars forming barricades while waiting for the SWAT teams to arrive. The teen figured if they were not here yet, then it meant they were preparing a large squad.

"They're letting people out at least…" Lincoln was at least relieved with that. As long as no one was in one of those textoths outfits, they would gladly allow them passage to flee. He dismounted the bicycle, leaving it set aside before going off to the side where the back of the many buildings were.

"A wall… perfect," Lincoln saw a wall for an alleyway, where no one was guarding at the moment since it was out of the way. The teen grabbed the bicycle, rolling it along the wall until it was in the right position.

"Come on… so close…" The buck toothed boy grunted while balancing on the bike, trying to reach the top of the wall. He was just short of it. He decided to risk it, hopping up from his sister's bike. Causing it to fall over, it would be painful if he fell on it, but thankfully he was able to grab onto the top of the wall beginning to hoist himself up.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoaaaa!" Lincoln fell over the other side of the wall after he pulled himself up, crash landing into multiple trash bins, sending garbage everywhere and giving him a somewhat cushioned landing.

"Oww… I'm… gonna need a long, soapy bath later…" He coughed, trying to let the pain go away before he moved.

"Help me, please!"

"H-huh?" Lincoln saw a female journalist who had snuck past the police blockades to try and get a scoop, way in advance of any of the others, and now was being chased by one of the textoth, she had hoped for a way to escape via the alley. She stumbled, falling face first to the ground.

"No! Somebody! Please!" She tried using her personal taser, but the monster was unfazed. It stretched one of its horrid clutches for her.

"Back off!" Lincoln intervened, slamming a garbage bin lid to the textoth's face. It knocked the monster back a good foot away from them. Having put all his momentum into the hard blow had given Lincoln a good surprise attack.

"Hey, are you alright?" The white haired boy put the dented trash lid down and helped her up.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you… those things attacked my partners. I-I don't know what happened to them…" She claimed, too terrified to make a run for the police blockade either.

"Here, I'll help you over the wall," Lincoln insisted quietly. The textoth still lay on its side, its scary face having no color in the mouth or eyes at the moment, like it had been rendered unconscious.

"Come on… nnngh!" He groaned while boosting her up with his hands onto the top of the wall. The journalist reached down offering her hand to him to help him up.

"Sorry, but I gotta help the others and deal with these freaks," Lincoln apologized, insisting for her to go and run. He would do his best to save her partners if they still could be helped.

"Wait! It's dangerous! Who are you anyway?" She requested. Seeing the young boy so calm and bright about this was eerie to her.

"Lincoln Loud. I guess I'm a guardian," Lincoln answered, deciding to refer to the Guardian Project on his arm.

"Watch out!" She shouted. Lincoln turned to the textoth he had knocked out. It was back in action, the face of the monster glowing red in anger. Lincoln watched it go on one knee and slam a fist into its leg, a bone ripping out from its knee.

"Whoa…!" Lincoln was stunned, watching the monster grab the bone like a handle, beginning to rip out something from its body. With one last yank, the textoth pulled out a black, red and green colored blade. It was curved like a scimitar, yet it was jagged in a zigzag style.

"Tha-that didn't hurt?!" Lincoln gawked, the textoth letting out a disturbing laugh before it swung forward. The white haired boy raised his gauntlet in defense, catching the blade slash with it.

"D-don't just stay there! Get going!" The white haired boy told her. The journalist nodded, hopping off the other side of the wall with the hopes of getting him help.

"Mfhph!" Lincoln felt his face get grabbed. The textoth took advantage of his distraction to try and steal his essence, but nothing came out again. Lincoln grabbed the monster's wrist that held his weapon, and laid a hard punch into the face.

"Don't grab my face with those webby hands!" Lincoln said angrily. The textoth butted its head into his, startling the boy into tumbling back, but he was able to take the weapon from the essence plundering monster.

"Ohhh… that hurt…" Lincoln murmured, seeing the textoth jumping at him. He acted instinctively, thrusting both feet up and kicking his enemy in the stomach, knocking him back slightly. The young boy stood up, keeping the jagged scimitar in his hand.

"My turn!" Lincoln grinned, throwing a hard slash. The monster tried to guard, but it could not halt the attack. Its arms, shoulder and chest were hit, and sparks and smoke burst off of it. Lincoln didn't give his opponent a chance to make another weapon or retaliate.

"Sorry…" Lincoln hoped this monster didn't feel pain. It was going to be hard to fight living things, even if they were out to harm everyone. He let out one more swing of the blade, watching the sparks fly off the textoths chest. It let out a weird echoed howl of defeat before it collapsed, the slash marks smoking.

"Did… Did I win?" Lincoln stared at the monster lying there. Suddenly a rainbow stream of the energy essence began to escape from it, rapidly flying into the air. Afterwards, the outfit on the textoth vanished, leaving only the skeleton body behind that turned to dust in seconds.

"…so they're just skeletons?" He murmured, looking at the jagged scimitar he still held. Unfortunately, the blade itself vanished, and the bone that had acted as the handle turned to dust in his hands.

"Of course I can't have an advantage," Lincoln sighed. He then noticed several civilians lying around on the sidewalk. Their condition looked just as bad as Vernan's after he had his essence stolen. Lincoln saw the essence the monster had taken flowing back into the people.

"I hope that means they're going to be fine… Oh no… that means…!" Lincoln turned around before he ran deeper into the shopping district. If any of those monsters escaped, any victims they had taken the essence of would not be able to be helped.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll come help later!" Lincoln apologized to the unconscious people he ran by. He hated to leave them like this, whether they be fine or not, but if any of those monsters escaped, the people that had their essence stolen by them would inevitably die. That was enough motivation for him to get moving.

"Jeez… this is nuts…" Lincoln saw so many people unconscious on the roads and the many cars on the side parking zones. Seemingly no one had the chance to even enter their vehicles when the attack happened.

"Guess it is a Sunday though," he murmured. The textoth attacked on Sunday, one of the two days of the week that the shopping district received nearly hundreds of customers. Thankfully it seemed like a majority were able to escape the assault.

In the shopping center plaza, where the most popular stores resided, there were a lot of textoth around, prowling for every last drop of essence from anyone they could grab.

"My perhaps our majesty was right… there is nothing to be afraid of, if all these pitiful mongrels have to attack us with is electricity and lead," Zeggfor stood at the center of the plaza, which lay a giant fountain with fish statues spewing water out. His feet were dipped in the water, standing atop the coins. The upper part of the fountain was dedicated to wishes of those who felt like tossing their spare change at something in hopes of a miracle.

"We may not be the best of the Xeran race, but with this fast progress, our majesty will be able to be revived soon… perhaps once everyone within this pitiful town is sapped of its essence," Zeggfor began laughing at imagining all the chaos. His daydreaming was interrupted by two of the textoth getting his attention, looking panicked.

"What is it? Have they sent another wave of the lead dispensers to assault us?" The majesty's general requested. The two revived skeletons pointed back toward the fancy brick road that lined the shopping center. They saw another one of their small group get bashed down, releasing all of their essence before inevitably turning to dust.

"Hup!" Lincoln hopped over the fourth textoth monster he defeated, continuing down the road. He saw the plaza up ahead, he had won each encounter by stealing the weapon from each monster so far.

"My… could it be…? That is the boy from seventeen hours ago? …Mhm… it's quite a rarity that one of my victims would meet me a second time," Zeggfor was surprised. Seeing a textoth be defeated by the teenager was more surprising to him.

"Hey… it's you!" Lincoln called out upon arriving to the plaza, seeing the grey horned monster standing there with two more of the textoth, the skeletal soldiers that looked actually scared of the young boy.

"My name is Zeggfor… I suppose fate has a fun way of bringing my former playthings back to me," Zeggfor introduced himself with a light laugh, pointing one of his clawed fingers at him.

"I believe soldiers should exchange names when they meet more than once," he added. The white haired boy quirked an eyebrow. He was just surprised the monster had a name at all.

"I'm Lincoln Loud. The one who's going to stop you," Lincoln introduced himself. He, for some reason, did not feel as confident as he did a moment ago. Being in front of the presumed boss of the smaller monsters was intimidating.

"Well, young barbarian, I suppose I can give you credit for one thing. You've done more than the fools that have tried to attack us thus far… But I do not believe you deserve my attention just because you survived a prior encounter," Zeggfor responded. Lincoln prepared himself. Even if the only weapon he had was this gauntlet shield, he was going to do his best with it just as long as it was able to defend him.

"I'm not a barbarian… What did I make you afraid of me?" Lincoln retorted the refusal of a challenge. The grey monsters eyes flashed before he threw up a hand.

"Little boy… let me demonstrate what one of his majesty's most loyal and trusted troops can do," Zeggfor smirked. A small sphere suddenly appeared in his hand that began to spark violently, like one of those electric balls used to attract lightning.

"What are you doing?" Lincoln questioned, watching as Zeggfor throw the ball in the air. Lincoln hopped back. The two textoth left near the boy looked terrified as the electrical ball stayed floating in the air.

"Screeee!" One of the monsters let out a howl as a large bolt of thunder hit it, suddenly exploding into sparks and smoke, the second one being blasted as well, both being defeated by their own generals attack. Lincoln began to run, watching strike after strike of thunder explode behind him.

"What in the name of Royal Woods?!" Lincoln jumped over a car as a bolt of lightning struck the hood of the vehicle, setting it on fire instantly. The young boy landed face first lying on the ground.

"I must admit, this is quite fun," Zeggfor said, watching Lincoln begin to roll out of desperation to continue dodging. Each bolt of lightning that hit the ground sent the bricks flying or lit the ground ablaze.

"Quit playing as Zeus already!" Lincoln grabbed one of the bricks that had been blown out from the road, and chucked it like a baseball, watching it hit Zeggfor in the head directly, and harmlessly bounce off to the ground. Zeggfor didn't react one bit to it, but it at least stopped his lightning barrage somehow.

"Hm… I find it somewhat cruel to be so unfair. I must admit that I have had these worthless bone puppets fighting to see if you humans were worth letting live to continue stealing your essences from the shadows, rather than stealing them from those who fail to win in combat," Zeggfor spoke. Lincoln was confused now, but did not get a chance to speak up.

"I'll say this again… I am Zeggfor, one of the majesty's four most loyal soldiers for the Xeran race… since you beat a few of my textoth, I'll let you fight all of the rest," Zeggfor introduced himself fully. Lincoln stood up straight, trying to catch his breath while watching the grey monster reach up and detach one of its horns.

"Those are removable?" The lone Loud boy got no answer. He watched Zeggfor blow into it like a war horn. It rung out a loud noise that echoed for miles before it stopped.

"I'll do you an honor, and make sure your essence goes straight to the majesty," Zeggfor bowed, before he began to walk away in the opposite direction.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Lincoln called out, about to chase after him, when suddenly he heard a loud shatter of multiple store windows. He watched several textoth jumping through the broken windows, some coming from other parts of the shopping district and others coming from in the stores, until Lincoln was surrounded.

"Whoa… well, uh… I guess you aren't going to fight me one at a time?" Lincoln rhetorically asked. The only reason he had won the other four fights was because each one was in a one versus one scenario. He counted fourteen textoth around him. He readied himself, taking in a deep breath and exhaling to calm down.

"Come on, Lisa, what was it you told me…? That's right! The locks on my arm and the keys in my pocket!" Lincoln recalled Lisa's words that the Guardian Project's blazing red gauntlet was simply the lock, he thought there might be a lot more to this than he knew. The young teen reached into his pocket and quickly pulled out the bright red curved tip star. It shined slightly as the sun hit it. The textoth were slightly mesmerized by the shiny object, like treasure would temporarily blind them.

"I'm going to show you just what a Guardian can do!"


	9. The First Guardian

Lisa wondered what time it was. She sat up, getting her glasses off the nightstand. The child prodigy felt awful, her body demanding a lot more rest than the few hours she had gotten, but she found it unneeded at the moment.

"You okay, Lisa?" Lana chimed up from nearby while trying to find something of hers. The blonde girl noticed her younger sister waking up after the long time of sleeping.

"Indeed. My brain is still just reacting to prior cues for sleep recognition," Lisa nodded. Lana pulled out a small ball-shooting gun. It was not too powerful, but good enough for what she needed it for.

"Dare I inquire as to what you're doing?" Lisa questioned as she and Lana walked down the hall.

"We're still waiting for the pizza to be done… so Lola and I are gonna play extreme racket ball," Lana answered, looking eager to go blasting at her spoiled twin with the ball launcher. She had plenty of ammunition to spare. Sadly, Lynn had turned down the offer to play.

"I may have missed breakfast, but pizza sounds satisfactory right now," Lisa smiled, letting Lana go so she could get outside to play. Lisa began to make her way to the garage wanting to check up on the Guardian Project.

"Finally up, Lisa? You had us worried," Luna caught her sibling. Lisa's smile was a nice change to her, considering how straight faced she normally was.

"You don't need to preoccupy yourself with worry for my well being. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Lisa assured she had just been up late working on another invention, having not told anyone of the Guardian Project herself yet, oblivious to Lincoln telling other family members freely.

"Sorry, today's just been kind of scary… one part of town's got some weird riot going on. Mom and dad called and told us to stay home and call them if something happened," the aspiring rock star claimed. Lisa was aware that Luna tended to act as caretaker for the younger half of the family, and she was great at it. Being trapped inside all day sounded like a good time for Lisa right now, it just meant more time to work.

"A riot? I see… Whatever imbeciles believe that causing such disorderly conduct will result in anything positive deserve whatever punishment they receive," Lisa stated. She saw protesting and rioting as a very pathetic thing. The people thought slowing down traffic and harassing those trying to do their jobs was bad enough, but destroying businesses and mass attacking everyone was even worse to her.

"I guess… Just take it easy. I'll come get you when the pizzas ready," Luna said.

"I will… thank you," Lisa nodded, and then went to the garage, the older sister going back to the kitchen to help out Lori with the pizza.

"I can't believe I became unconscious before I could install all of the coding data into the Guardian Project," Lisa turned on the light in the garage. But when she did, she felt her heart skip a beat, her eyes widened and her brain twitched.

"It… It's gone! The Guardian Project's gone!" Lisa saw nothing on the desk but the wires that once had been hooked up to the gauntlet.

"No no no no no… please let it still be here," Lisa lost her composure. She grabbed her laptop from nearby. She had put a tracking device inserted to the gauntlet to be able to deal with any thieves if there were any, whether inside or outside their family. Lisa pulled up a virtual map of Royal Woods and viewed it.

"Wh… why is it downtown?" She asked. The Guardian Project was blinking with a bright red dot indicating it was at the shopping district the child prodigy beginning to type away. The results that appeared made her panic increase.

"There's a giant power spike emitting from it… oh no…It's activating..."

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln brought the red star up, before putting it into the back of the gauntlet's opening, watching as the gauntlet's back closed tight and began to glow brightly.

"Ow ow ow hot! Hot hot!" He felt an intense heat burning around him. It made the enemies all back off. The young boy saw a wave of fire spew from the gauntlet. Lincoln spun around, watching it spray the flames at everyone of the monsters, scaring them away from around him.

"Here we go!" Lincoln punched the ground with his gauntlet covered arm. Fire shot up all around him as white boots appeared on his legs and red pants that had white stripes along the side. A red spandex suit appeared on his chest and down his arms, white gloves covering his hands and a white collar around his neck. A special belt then appeared and strapped itself tight around his waist.

"Lock in," Lincoln reached up as a bright red helmet appeared on his head he put one hand on the front and one on the back before hearing a loud clunking noise, indicating it was attached. The helmets face was open showing his eyes, the flames dying down leaving the lone loud boy standing there, steam bursting off of him.

"Whoa… did I just… transform?" Lincoln looked himself over. His new red outfit was a bright shade. The white line ran up his legs and all the way up his side, as well as the white lines from his arms, and his gear top had one large white line that went from shoulder to shoulder in a V shape from his chest, where all the lines connected.

"Oh jeez," Lincoln hit the side of his helmet with a light tap, and a black visor covered his face. The silver stripes on the helmet glowing red briefly. The helmet had a wide opening for viewing, the black visor being tinted heavily to protect the wearer. A small silver piece was below that to represent the mouth on the helmet. Two large silver stripes ran from the visor to the complete back of the helmet.

"Whoa!" Lincoln jumped back, dodging two jagged scimitars swings. All fourteen textoth were getting ready and drawing their weapons from their bodies at this point. The teenager was letting his body do as it pleased. So far its guidance had not let him down yet.

"Guardian Red! Protector of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln posed, crossing his arms. One textoth was about to sneak up on him before suddenly a large explosion erupted behind Guardian Red, sending the textoth flying and crashing onto a car.

"What just happened?!" Lincoln looked at the red smoke that was left from the explosion. He ducked under the next sword swing quickly, getting back up and punching the textoth in the side, then grabbing its face and slamming it hard onto the ground.

"That is the energy surge protector discharge that occurs when the transformation happens, you buffoon! Lincoln Loud! You took the Guardian Project?!" Lisa angrily chimed up. Somehow he was able to hear her. Lincoln put up his gauntlet, blocking the next attack from multiple jagged scimitars.

"Lisa? Oh, thank goodness. Yeah I stole it. I had to help stop these monsters that were attacking," Lincoln grabbed the arm of one of the textoth, seeing another one jump in the air with its sword overhead at him. He quickly used the other one as a shield, watching the skeletal soldier slash his comrade in friendly fire, as sparks and smoke were exploding from its chest while it fell.

"Nice one," Lincoln grinned, picking up the newly defeated textoth's sword and slashing upwards, hitting the other enemy with a cut that was hard enough to finish them off instantly.

"Yes. I can see the beings before you, Lincoln. I can view through your helmet's screen cover and communicate you through the helmet. How many enemies are there?" Lisa requested. Watching the white haired teens fight through the computer monitor was scary, especially since he had the Guardian Project. It took a lot of their material to make in the first place, if it was destroyed they may not have any hope of recreating it.

"Ten now!" Lincoln then spun around with the jagged scimitar, giving one spiral cut multiple times to another two textoth on his sides, sending them flying, they hit the ground sparking violently and smoking before collapsing, releasing the stolen essence. Lincoln's stolen blade vanished by turning into dust with the defeated skeleton monster.

"Goodness sake, Lincoln! The suit is nowhere near complete! What you're doing could be considered a suicide attempt on multiple levels!" Lisa scolded him. He could certainly understand why she was upset. He was working with an early prototype without her consent, risking his own life and the hours upon hours of work she had put into this for Vernan.

"Look, I know you're mad, but yelling in my ear reaaaally isn't helping this fight," Lincoln reminded her that he was still in that life and death battle. One textoth grabbed him by surprise, having gotten both of his arms.

"Uh oh…" the white haired teen gulped, watching three of the textoth run up at him with their weapons gleefully drawn, beginning to hack and slash away at him, each slash causing more sparks and smoke exploding from him while sending a shock wave of pain through his body.

"The only thing protecting you right now is the alloy your suit is made from. It regenerates gradually like a shield, but you're stressing it beyond its limits!" Lisa warned her brother, only receiving cries of pain in response. He had no care for the little details right now. She began to type away on his computer.

"I'm unlocking your Guardian Weapon. Please don't go breaking it," the child prodigy requested.

"Tha-thanks, Lisa," Lincoln panted. He had to escape the monster holding him in its grasp first of all. He looked down to his armored gauntlet. The front of it now had three claws on it that extended over his hand, the ends of them being slightly bent like hooks. They looked sharp enough to slice through a good few materials.

"What the…?" The red guardian boy saw three of the textoth preparing a special attack. He watched two of them slash the air, causing a crossed giant X of blue energy to stay floating there. The third slashed forward, sending it flying toward Lincoln.

Lincoln threw his head back, hitting the textoth holding him in its creepy face and making it lose its grip it had on him, the teenager grabbing the textoth spinning around and getting behind it, hearing its freaked out cries of mercy before the cross attack hit him exploding on contact.

"Whoa!" Lincoln got knocked into the fountain from the explosion, watching and coins being splashed all over the place. He saw the essence flying into the air with the rest of it. So far it all had been building up into one big rainbow bundle in the sky.

"I believe you may be correct about your theory that monsters exist," Lisa said, apologizing for not believing him sooner, but she knew he had nine more monsters to fight off.

"Thanks… now let me show you what this guardian can do!" Lincoln grinned while fist pumping with his clawed shield gauntlet, jumping out of the fountain and making a run at the last nine textoth. Two tried to swing at him, but he caught one blade with his gauntlet, ducking under the other's swipe.

"Yeah!" Lincoln kicked the first one in the back, breaking its guard. He then jumped at it, swinging his claw overhead and slashing deeply into the textoth from head to toe. Watching it begin sparking violently and collapse. He grabbed its jagged scimitar, spinning around and knocking the other ones swords aside.

"Here we go!" Lincoln charged through each textoth, slashing like a madman. Every thrust of the blade or swing of his claw, felt like a freeze frame with a bright slash. Each textoth was unable to react in time as they all were cut down. He screeched to a halt, panting when he got to the end of the miniature mob. He fell onto his knees, feeling very numb.

"Ohh…" Lincoln looked over his shoulder to see every one of the remaining textoth in the group all falling over onto the ground, defeated, smoke coming from their wounds. They all began to release their essence into the sky.

"Guess I win… now everyone's essence should go back to them," he smiled, just staring up like it was a light show. It felt oddly calming to see, but he was glad to have been able to save those in danger.

"Lincoln, that energy is not returning to anything. It seems to all be moving to one point now, like something is drawing it," Lisa claimed, trying her best to help her only brother out. She wanted him to desperately get back now so she could look over any damages to the guardian unit.

"It's what?! Lisa, where is it going?" Lincoln stood back up. He was tired, but was not going to stop yet, not until he could know he put all his effort in, to save as many as he could.

"The roof of that jewelry store, The Diamond Cutters, down the ways, but you need to…"

"Thanks Lisa!" Lincoln dashed toward the very store she had pointed him toward. He was ignoring her orders to back down and retreat. He saw essence flying toward that direction.

"My… I suppose that means my troops were bested," Zeggfor looked disappointed. He seemingly had another one of those energy filled spheres like the one Lincoln had in his star, except the essence inside was pure dark, "My majesty won't be happy to hear about this."

Zeggfor's energy sphere began absorbing the rainbow color variety of essence into it, like one long attracting beam.

"Hey, Zeggfor!" Lincoln lunged at the grey monster's back. He had snuck onto the roof through the fire escape.

"What a pathetic barbarian…" Zeggfor caught Lincoln's clawed gauntlet right when he tried to take a stab at him. He tried to throw Lincoln off toward the ledge of the roof, but the young boy used his claw weapon to dig into the roof and stop himself from falling.

"I beat your textoth thingies! Now give everyone back this essence stuff!" Lincoln growled, pulling himself back up and getting into the poor battle stance he had.

"I don't recall taking any agreement with you. I simply made the mistake of trusting those fallen failures… don't worry, though. I'll make sure you join the ranks of the Xeran troops, once your essence is mine." Zeggfor began to stomp toward Lincoln. The teenager was terrified, even if he was stronger now because of the guardian suit.

"That… that's an actual monster!" Lisa gasped at what she was seeing. It was one of those moments in her life where everything she knew with common logic felt like a lie once again, with the textoth she could lie to herself that it might be people in costumes, but this was a full fledged monster. It looked too real to be a costume.

"Look at you, boy. You have no stance. No style. No confidence… hence why I call you a barbarian, a fool who engages blindly into a fight to the death for barely any logical reason, with no real skill to boot," Zeggfor explained with an ominous laugh while the energy sphere he held continued to draw in the rainbow colors of essence into it from the sky.

"Won't disagree there," Lincoln murmured. He really had no experience. The only reason he could dodge well was because every day in his house he had to dodge ten other siblings on a regular basis, and think quick and come up with plans semi-decently.

"Let me show you what happens when you underestimate everyone you meet," Lincoln declared. When Zeggfor was close, he threw his free hand in a punch, the monster catching the fist in his other hand.

"My, that was very devastating," the majesty's general laughed. Lincoln grinned, slashing upwards with his clawed shield gauntlet, slashing Zeggfor's other hand and stopping the energy sphere from stealing essence, sending it flying high into the air. It did not get a chance to come down however, as a large bird flew by and caught it with its mouth, before flying off into the distance.

"A… ah… my majesty…One of his...His hearts..." Zeggfor's jaw dropped.

"I did not expect that," Lincoln claimed. He had planned on just knocking it out of the monster's hand and then catching it before it hit the ground. But he guessed it was better to be completely out of the area thanks to that bird instead of being near this monster.

"Grah!" Lincoln felt the clawed hand around his throat. He got picked up off the ground and pinned down right onto the roof, hard enough to crack it, smoke beginning to come from his guardian suit.

"I'm through with your idiocy. I've absorbed more than enough of my energy to make this a successful assault… but I am going to take yours, if it's the last thing I do," Zeggfor rose his leg up and stomped on Lincoln's chest.

"Lincoln!" Lisa gasped as she heard her brother's cries of agony. It was far worse when she could not do anything to help but watch, wracking her big brain for ideas.

"Why won't your essence escape your body?! I am a million times stronger than you! I've helped destroy entire dimensions! Destroyed and sapped every last drop of essence out of entire kingdoms! So why can't I steal yours?!" Zeggfor dug his foot into Lincoln's chest. Lincoln in turn tried to stab him multiple times, and the monster didn't twitch. Zeggfor jumped up and stomped on Lincoln. A massive explosion of sparks flashed out as the roof gave way. They both fell into the jewelry store below, crashing and destroying the display cases the alarm blaring loudly.

"Ouuugh…" Lincoln lay on a pile of rings and necklaces. He could not decipher what the grey monster was so angry with him about, all he knew was that they had just caused thousands in property damage.

"Zeggfor!" A booming voice stopped everything right there.

"Majesty?" Zeggfor saw a portal appear behind him. Suddenly, multiple bright bindings lashed out, grabbing his arms and wrapping around his neck.

"You lost one of my hearts… I am not going to watch you lose anymore of the essence you gathered," the majesty's voice sounded, and the bindings began to drag Zeggfor into the portal, his feet scraping the ground as he refused.

"No! He is almost dead! Let me finish this one fly off! No!" The portal was gone, and with it Zeggfor as well.

Lincoln stared, his eyes wide from witnessing it all. "Did you see that, Lisa?"

"Affirmative… you need to get back home before the others realize you're gone," Lisa stated. Lincoln retracted the claw back into his shield gauntlet, letting the bright red star pop out from the back of it and catching it.

"Guardian Mode, disengage," Lincoln said, and then his Guardian Red suit vanished. He exhaled in relief. He could see anyone outside that had their essence stolen were getting back up, their essence saved from being taken by the monsters.

"Okay, Lisa. I'm… …oh, right… the helmet had the communicator in it," Lincoln had accidentally cut off contact from his prodigal sister, he certainly was not going through the effort of morphing again to get in contact with her, when he could just use his phone. He looked down at the many pieces of jewelry lying around, reaching down and picking some of it up.

"Maybe this would get Ronnie Anne to forgive me…?" Lincoln thought about his former girlfriend, while staring at the jewelry, he heard a lot of noise outside. He could see outside that SWAT teams had arrived, though a second too late for the battle. The white haired boy made for the back exit of the jewelry store to leave and get home. He was glad to know he saved a lot of lives and ended the chaos before it worsened, he did wonder one thing now.

"Does this make me a hero?"


	10. Tired

**Authors Note: Once again let me just thank you all for the support, considering the fact it's nearing 5000 views already, I was honestly worried no one would like anything else I wrote after A Brothers Debt. I'm glad to see that isn't the case, though I am aware that multiple members in the community are miffed with me, mainly over how often I update. Either way I hope you enjoy this chapter, take care all!**

Lincoln was tired, but he managed to make it back home, going around into the side garage door with Lynn's bike rolling beside him. When he got inside, he rested the bike aside and closed the door.

"Lincoln! Welcome back," Lisa greeted him. Lincoln went and took a seat over on a nearby step ladder, drained from the long fight.

"Hey, Lisa… sorry for taking so long… I kind of collapsed halfway home," Lincoln apologized. He had ridden the bike as long as he could, but sadly his legs gave out on him, and he crashed into a bush. He had given up riding it from there and decided to walk the rest of the way home.

"Well that's only natural. You were probably surviving off adrenaline alone throughout that entire confrontation," Lisa reassured that his body just needed time to regain its own energy after the event.

"Oh, yes… and also…" Lincoln felt himself get sprayed once again by the water bottle. He guessed this was just Lisa's method of being passively aggressive. He understood why she was mad with him.

"Sorry for taking the Guardian Project without asking… you were asleep and I was worried since no one else was able to fight those Xeran guys," Lincoln apologized, feeling bad for the theft, but it was quite the anxiety raiser to just sit there and watch the ever growing chaos in the city that all attempts to stop had barely done anything to slow it down, let alone stop it.

"If you were dead, I'd be a lot more infuriated… but we can at least confidently say that the Guardian Project is a success for only its early phases," Lisa tried to look at the positive side as she threw the spray bottle aside. She took the gauntlet off from his forearm and returned it to the workbench.

"Yeah! I felt like a hero throughout all of that," Lincoln replied, "I can't wait to tell everyone else about…"

"Lincoln Loud! You are not a hero. You were simply the first person who responded to the situation and successfully halted it. But hear me out; we are not telling anyone anything," Lisa angrily dug into her brother for what she saw as his idiotic movements. Lincoln smiled, walking beside her to the workbench, picking up his little sister and hugging her.

"Heh… sorry for making you worry, Lisa," Lincoln apologized. The child prodigy wrapped her arms around his neck, not hiding how upset she was from being greatly worried. Watching her brother get assaulted like that was terrifying, but the guardian suit did its job of protection well.

"That and I might have caused thousands of dollars in property damage when fighting Zeggfor," Lincoln added, confessing that maybe it would be better to keep things more secretive. Lisa sighed while she was put down.

"I did kinda almost make a mistake on top of that…" He looked over himself. The injuries he sustained were primarily scratches, but there were a good few baseball-sized bruises on his chest.

"What do you mean?" Lisa wondered out loud, wondering if he was referring to destroying the majority of that jewelry store, "I watched most of the fight, and frankly, just because your body was the thing that was crashed through that roof, it doesn't exactly make you responsible."

"I…I almost stole some of the jewelry there," Lincoln nervously looked down at the ground beneath them. He almost took advantage of a store's damaged security, all for what probably would have been a frivolous waste of time and disappointment, a still broken heart, and maybe a black eye from Ronnie Anne.

"Oh… well, the important thing is that you did not proceed with those negative intentions. I understand you feel a lot lonelier without Ronnie Anne, but sincerely if you don't try to move on, it will only affect you worse in the long run," Lisa explained, more so praising him for not acting on the evil urges. Even one minor thing like that would ruin many heroes and their reputation.

"Wait… you knew about me and Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln was surprised. He had kept his relationship with Ronnie Anne secret from his entire family for obvious reasons. All the meddling though was ridiculous, her older brother Bobby was also dating Lori.

"Lincoln, I may have more distractions than most, but I'm also far more observant… not to mention that you kept having the same bruise on your upper left forearm for five months straight. That can only happen from taking a playful punch, over and over," Lisa explained. Lincoln looked down at his arm. There barely was any trace of the bruise left. Ronnie Anne would call him Lame-o constantly and bashfully hit him in the arm. It was just how she showed her affection with him, or how she used to.

"If science doesn't work out, I'm sure you'll pass as a great detective," Lincoln claimed, not reluctant anymore to confess to her that her hunch that he used to be together with Ronnie Anne was correct. Lisa could tell how depressed he was over it. He had been trying his best to not show it and get over it, but it was a lot harder than he ever expected.

"My appreciation for the compliments… I have to ask, why didn't you go through with stealing the jewelry? You had cut communications off with me when you exited your guardian mode," Lisa doubted that it was as simple as just not wanting to commit a crime. To her, her brother was one of the most confusing members in the family because of his constant planning, but then no one was normal in the Loud House.

"I couldn't… 'cause it's not the type of thing a superhero would do," Lincoln sheepishly answered. The child prodigy adjusted her glasses, feeling bad for scolding him so harshly earlier like their mother would have.

"Here. Guess you better give this to Lynn," Lincoln held out his red curved tip star. Lisa however closed his hand around it.

"I can't, even if I wanted to. The Guardian Project is military designed. It has several fail safes and also has an anti theft measure to it," she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Anti theft measure…?" He confusedly repeated, hoping she would not give him a headache by giving a lot of scientific specifics about it all.

"Yes, Lincoln. It registers the DNA of the one who activates it first… and if I'm correct, you were the first to wear the guardian suit," Lisa explained. Lincoln gave a sheepish smile. He knew what it now meant for him.

"So… I'm the Fire Guardian for good then?"

"Ugh… yes, my dear brother, you are the one and only guardian… I suppose that makes you a superhero," Lisa claimed. Lincoln didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he had wanted to take the burden away from his sisters by taking over the Guardian Project himself, but he had stolen it to get into this position unintentionally.

"Thanks, Lisa… Sorry again about taking it… was there any bad damage done to it from the fights?" Lincoln questioned. They both looked at the guardian gauntlet resting on the workbench, his genius sister hooking it back up to multiple wires from her laptop again.

"Thankfully, it appears not. …I suggest you look into taking fighting courses like karate for an after school activity," she recommended. Lincoln pocketed the red star and began to leave the garage with her to let the computer analyze the gauntlet, in order to make sure it was not majorly damaged.

"Why's that? I beat that Xeran group, didn't I?" Lincoln replied, confusedly.

"Lincoln, if science has taught me one thing… err… to put it in Layman's terms, you can cut down a tree and remove the stump, as well as the roots, but it will still leave behind dozens of seeds to make more in its place, some of which will most likely grow larger than the original." Lisa tried to give her best example metaphor that he could hopefully understand.

"So you're saying this is just the beginning?" Lincoln asked, his super genius sister nodding. He certainly knew why she felt anxious for it now. He had no choice but to keep up with the secret identity for now.

"There you two are!" Lori chimed up, Lincoln and Lisa saw her, "I was just coming to get you. The pizza's finished."

"Oh, that's great!" Lincoln smiled, he and Lisa glad to have a late lunch over no lunch at all. The three made their way to the kitchen, where midway they then noticed everyone else gathered in the living room, again focused on the television.

"What's occurring?" Lisa requested while they joined the group.

"Oh, the riots back on the news again. It's over, but what ended it is weird," Luan answered, tossing the remote to the oldest sibling and letting her raise the volume.

"It seems nearly all the people that had been assaulted have been able to make a full recovery, myself and my beloved crew included… but it's not thanks to the authorities' efforts, but to a supposed masked individual that everyone describes as a hero," the news reporter, the one who had been attacked on camera earlier by the textoth, spoke. She seemed to have energy to last for days now.

"…guess I did get seen…" Lincoln thought. He wondered what happened to that journalist he saved, when he then realized he had told her his full name and announced his title as a guardian after saving her, "How is it that I always manage to screw up a lot of things…?"

"Oh dear," Lisa murmured.

"Thankfully, our eye in the sky did get some footage of this hero and their actions. Let's view it now," the reporter continued, as the camera changed to the view from a helicopter that had arrived early in hopes of getting good footage of the SWAT teams fighting the textoth.

"I'm screwed… screwed like a broken light bulb," Lincoln watched the footage of him standing there after he had finished morphing. Steam was coming off his body after the morph. He was relieved it recorded only the real part of the battle itself, not the part where he initially confronted them.

"As you can see, after being bested, these… things, turned to dust," the reporter continued on, "Police are investigating, but as it stands, the only thing we know is that our journalist, Jessica Blakesten claims the man saved her and claims to be a 'guardian'. Therefore, it only is natural to dub this individual Guardian Red."

"Yep that's her," Lincoln groaned, recognizing the picture of the journalist he saved, and the name Jessica Blakesten. She was infamous for stalking and harassing famous individuals in Royal Woods, and would go to insane lengths to do it. He was wondering why she did not expose his identity though, Jessica made it sound like he had met her in his guardian form.

"A guardian?! That is so cool!"

"Did you see him fighting them? That was so awesome, especially that explosion behind him!"

"That was a really 'heated' battle."

"How do you know it isn't a girl?"

"What was that rainbow stuff coming out of the monsters?"

"They looked strong enough to suplex them all!"

"I'd love to meet their fashion designer."

Lincoln just heard all of his sisters rambling back and forth. He felt very embarrassed to hear the praise. Lisa felt great at the compliments of the suit's greatness.

"Let's take the chance to get the pizza while everyone isn't fighting over getting their slice," Lori suggested, not caring about this supposed superhero on the news. She really could care less about a lot of things the news reported on.

"Sounds good," Lincoln and Lisa agreed, and they made their way back to the kitchen. Still, the new guardian felt like someone was talking about him specifically, and not his disguised hero form either.

"I get the feeling that Zeggfor guy is going to put me high up on his nemesis list."


	11. General Of Emotions

"I wish I could say I expected more from you, Zeggfor… sadly, this isn't your first major failure," the majesty was seated in his throne, while Zeggfor was being held by textoth. The core in the room was draining his essence until he was on the brink of death, and then pumping it right back into the majesty's general, all as a form of torture.

"Your majesty… I could have turned it around completely if you had not forcibly withdrawn me… now our enemy is at la-AAGH!" Zeggfor screamed in agony as his essence was drained again. He then went limp, the other generals watching from nearby in fear at their majesty toying with one of their comrades' lives.

"You lost one of my hearts. I may be able to make more, but I cannot recreate the essence within it. And without more essence to feed it, the heart will wither and die," the majesty explained while watching the grey monster's essence pump back into him.

"Your majesty! Might I suggest something? Pretty pleaaaaaase?" A cheerful bubbly voice stepped around from his throne before him. She was in a long red dress, and her face looked more like a mask than anything, completely pink with a bright smile along the bottom with raised eyebrows on top of the carving.

"Of course, Mirayu. You've more than earned my ears for all your loyalty and success," their majesty nodded. Mirayu was the General of Emotions. She loved toying with people to steal specific essences, leaving them as emotionless hollow corpses, or giving them too much to make them ticking time bombs of insanity.

"I do not think this is whom we require to open our war with," Zeggfor panted, looking at the pink skinned monster. He had not gotten a tagline himself, out of all the generals he was probably the lowest on the chain of command.

"Aw, Zeggfor…! I'm not the one we're opening the war with, remember? We opened with you, and look where that got us?" Mirayu's mask suddenly flipped upside down and changed into a blue, angry mask, her pink skin turning green, "All you did was make our majesty look like a fool! You disgraced the Xeran race by being bested and outsmarted by a child!"

Zeggfor felt her now claw-like hands on his throat. That was the general of emotions for them, an uncontrollable control freak. The grey monster remained silent, aware of his failure.

"Mirayu! He's already receiving his punishment delivered by me… now please, may you tell me what you wished to suggest to us?" The majesty ordered her to calm down, and just like that, her mask flipped back to its joyous face, and everything about her reverted to normal.

"Oh, silly me… I lost control again! Well, your majesty, I was thinking that instead of taking all the essence from people, we take specific parts of it… Making them slowly feel less and less worthwhile in life, until they don't care about keeping the rest of their essence," Mirayu began. The majesty laughed lightly from hearing this.

"…and then, all we have to do is absorb it… but I suppose you wish to begin creating our elite Xerans?" The majesty asked. The general of emotion nodded with a twirl.

"Yes majesty! I have the best plan in mind now that we have a moderately okay supply of essence. Thanks to Zeggfor taking some of it, we can make one! I just ask you to create another heart with your essence for it… pretty pleaaaase?" Mirayu went on her hands and knees, begging him to agree.

"I will grant this request… An elite with a sense of awareness might do more than a general that underestimates everyone," the majesty agreed. He reached up to his chest, his hand going through the armor he was wearing. With one strong pull, he ripped out another orb.

"Ooooooh!" Mirayu gleefully took it with a giggle, seeing the purple energy essence inside it spinning and swirling.

"I'll do it, your majesty, don't you worry!" She ran off, laughing and giggling, leaving the rest to remain in the throne room, the majesty and the three generals. One of the two shadowed figures beside him began to walk away.

"And where do you believe you're going?" the majesty's harsh tone rung in.

"I'm going to go find that heart Zeggfor lost. I would prefer us to control over everything," an ecstatic voice answered. Their leader seemed to understand.

"Not a biased idea…" the majesty nodded, allowing them to continue their leave. The majesty rested his head on his hand.

"One child bested one of my generals and a platoon of my textoth… perhaps the human race does have more to challenge us with this time… why that child has one of my hearts and is not corrupted, is beyond my comprehension…"

It was eight in the morning, and Lincoln was currently on the school bus, at the very back with a smile on his face, just relaxed. Sitting beside him was Clyde McBride his best friend, in a blue coat and black jeans.

"Dude, where'd you get that awesome arm cover?" Clyde asked, seeing the gauntlet on his friend's arm.

"Oh… Lisa gave me it," Lincoln had to keep his secret identity from his friends and family, it especially was frustrating since everyone on the bus was talking about the hero who stopped the riot yesterday. It felt annoying to him, while he didn't need the glory, he wished for at least some acknowledgement.

"So how's it feel now that you're in the same school as Lynn now?" Clyde asked. Lincoln was only slightly younger than his sporty sister. She started high school next year after she got held back for failing the tests due to not having much of a balance between her sports and studying, which thankfully she had gotten fixed now.

"It's alright, I guess. I mean, I don't see her much beyond lunch and gym," Lincoln responded. However, Lynn was the only one of his sisters in middle school aside from him. Luan had moved up to high school now, Leni would graduate next year, if she passed, and Luna was going to graduate this year.

"I'm guessing you still have been having problems with Ronnie Anne?" Clyde questioned. He knew about his best friend's secret relationship, having been informed after it was first made. He knew the break up had been rough on Lincoln.

"Yeah… I guess… I mean, she isn't really doing anything to me now beyond hitting me with spitballs," Lincoln sighed, looking down at his guardian gauntlet. Lisa had insisted he keep it on him at all times, as well as the curved star in his pocket, in case the Xeran were to make a surprise appearance.

"Sounds like she's taking it as bad as you," Clyde said. Ronnie Anne used to be a lot worse of a bully to him before, and during their dating, though while they were together, the bullying was more faked for show than anything.

"Can I sit back here with you guys?" They heard, looking up to see Lynn.

"Sure. What's wrong with your seat though?" Her only brother replied while making space for her to sit between them.

"I got stuck with Porky… I couldn't take his smell," Lynn groaned. Her brother and his best friend could only feel sympathetic for her, considering the seat she had was one of the best on the bus, only to be ruined by the grosser student.

"So… do you have anything planned after school?" The auburn haired girl questioned her brother. The bus was maybe five miles away from their school now. Traffic was slowing it down a lot today, which was odd, but nothing too unusual.

"Not much. I signed up for karate classes but they start at six. Why'd you ask?" Lincoln responded, wondering if she needed help with something. He did have plans after school, but not immediately after the regular school day ended.

"You're planning to do karate? Huh…" Lynn was awestruck at the decision he made. She wondered why her brother was going to start taking karate lessons. She had planned on signing up since she knew kickboxing and lucha libre wrestling. Karate would be a great thing to add into her skills, but if he wanted to do it too, then it was up to him.

"…but I wanted you to come see my football game… the coach has another school's team come over for the friendly practice program," Lynn then explained, referring to the program where she and her football team practiced with another team in a friendly match, "That, and… I wanna talk to you before then."

"Ohhhh… now I get it," Clyde smirked, believing his best friend was going to try to learn to fight better out of some strange attempt to win Ronnie Anne back. He never saw abuse save a relationship before, but there was a first time for everything, but he knew there was also a last time for everything too.

"Uh… sure, Lynn," Lincoln agreed. He wanted to just go through the day. He wanted to be happy as long as he knew people's lives were saved, but the stress was balancing things out. After all was said, the bus came to a stop in front of the school.

"You two have a good one today," Lynn bid them good luck with their classes today before she went off to get to her class. Lincoln swore something felt wrong, but he could not put his finger on it for the life of him.

"Yo dude, Ronnie Anne's looking at you," Clyde subtly pointed out, his friend looking over to see the all too familiar Santiago girl, her black ponytail and blue jacket making her stand out.

"Duck," Lincoln ordered, Clyde doing as told. The moment after they ducked, something flew overhead and hit the side of the bus. It appeared to be a failed shot from a balloon full of syrup that she had shot at Lincoln with a slingshot, using the student crowd as cover.

"Dang… she is accurate and scary," Clyde stated as they watched her continue to make her way into school, without batting an eyelash at them.

"The next thing I know, I'm going to be covered with a dozen spitballs again by lunchtime," Lincoln sighed as they both made their way inside the school to get the day over with, hoping to relax while he could, until the next time he had to inevitably become Guardian Red.

"La la la la la la…" Mirayu hummed while she skipped along. She had disguised herself with a human body, just another one of her talents, and now she looked like a smooth haired ginger woman, in a fancy dress that was out of season.

"Hm… what's this?" She tilted her head when she saw a sign saying Garage Sale. She looked up at the nearby house where it pointed her. She could see many items set up outside in the yard.

"Ohhh… there should be plenty of good choices for you there," she laughed, looking at the essence orb the majesty had given her. She began her approach, seeing an older man carrying out another box of junk.

"Hey, can't you read? Sale doesn't start for another hour, now get lost ya early bird," the man angrily told her, "You folks, trying to get early viewing at items make me sick…"

"Aww! Not even for little me? I have plenty of things to offer in trade for letting me peek… and I do mean plenty," Mirayu hummed as she leaned toward him. The then flustered man grumbled and shook his head.

"Fine… You can look, but I'm not letting you buy until the sale starts," he reluctantly agreed, hearing her squeal happily. Mirayu went to the many tables lined with junk scattered around the yard.

"Well… this stuff looks super old. A lot of it looks ready to just break apart if I blow on it," Mirayu was so far losing any hope she had of finding something she wanted here for her majesty's heart, until something glimmered that caught her eye.

"Hm? Oh my… what's this now?" she picked up a small wooden box, lifting the lid to see a smooth hexagon-shaped bottle containing pink perfume.

"Oh sorry that's not going into the sale. I must've grabbed it from the closet by accident… it's just my wife's perfume, I made it for her twelve years ago," the old man took the perfume bottle from her. Mirayu could guess that he was just an old lonely man who lost his life partner, or as she liked to call them, easy prey.

"But it's perfect… well, I guess this is bound to happen anyway, so here ya go," Mirayu held up the essence ball, and the older man suddenly began to get drained of every last drop of essence in his body. He stared at her, shocked.

"W-witch! You evil… witch…" the man collapsed onto the ground, the perfume bottle held tightly in his hand. Mirayu hummed, taking it from his grip now that she had taken all of his essence.

"Here you go, my majesty's little heart. Let's make some lives lively!" the general of emotions put the ball of essence energy against the perfume bottle, watching them merge together. She rested it down and took a few steps back.

"Graaaaaaah!" A loud roar echoed out as a tall monster began to be produced, the bottle now in the center of its chest with the majesty's heart floating around in it.

"Ohhhh, beautiful! Looks like I'm naming you Perfan," Mirayu cheered. The monster's red eyes adjusted to the world around it. Its left arm had a blaster on it, and dangling off its right arm was an air ball that was normally used to spray the perfume, but it was a lot bigger now.

"What is your command, Lady Mirayu?" The monster asked. Mirayu twirled in glee. This was perfect for her newly formed idea. The Xeran could create these monsters out of inanimate objects, referring to them as Xeran elites. They were unpredictable however, since the essence they received was random. The majesty's general clapped her hands.

"Come on! Let's go break some hearts, and create some studs!"


	12. Love Spray?

**Authors Note: Once again, thank you all so much for 5000 views on this fic, I hope you all are enjoying it. Have a good day and take care!**

The school day had gone normal for Lincoln. For him, things were going a lot faster, mainly because everyone in school was still talking and theorizing about the guardian. He was heading to his locker to put away the books he would need for tomorrow. He found it easier to just leave his books at school at the end of each day.

"So how'd your day go?" Clyde approached, having already put his items in his nearby locker.

"Ronnie Anne went nuts on me during dodgeball practice," Lincoln stated. Today was the usual for gym running and dodgeball, except this time Ronnie Anne was throwing multiple at once. If it was allowed, she probably would have kicked them full force at him too.

"Oh, sorry… I missed it. I had to use the bathroom, and by the time I got to gym, it was next to over," Clyde apologized, wishing he could have been there to help his brotherly friend out of that jam.

"Lincoln! Clyde! You gotta help me!" They heard a panicked voice. A brown haired boy in a green coat and black undershirt ran up to them, instantly trying to hide behind them.

"Chandler? Dude, what's going on?" Lincoln questioned. Chandler was known as the typical spoiled rich kid. He a lot of parties, yet he would only give invitations or be friends to those who benefited him in some way.

"Hey… you didn't insult us for once," Clyde smiled. They noticed a lot of women twice Chandler's age in the hall. Lincoln guessed they were looking for him. The red guardian was more surprised at how gorgeous all of them were.

"Here," Lincoln opened his locker and pushed Chandler in it, before he closed it. The best friends leaned on the locker door while all the women asked them about Chandler's whereabouts, but the teenagers claimed the same answer that they had not seen him today.

"I think it's clear now," Lincoln opened the locker and let Chandler step back out. He was panting in relief, having been running for a long hour from those women.

"Thanks… I figured you'd have left me in the locker, why did you help me out?" Chandler was surprised at the two for helping him of all people. He half expected to be left in the locker until the janitor let him out, he was relieved to be safe again.

"It didn't look like anyone else was going to help you," Lincoln replied, the response making no sense to the spoiled rich kid. They weren't wrong. No one else was around to help him beyond them, but he still did not understand.

"So what's going on?" Clyde asked, "Those girls looked ready to hug you to death."

"I was playing hooky today, when I got sprayed by some cloud of pink stuff, then every girl around me was on me! At first I found it alright… but… then they kept escalating, and escalating! I had to get away," Chandler explained. He never thought in his life he would wish to have been in school, instead of going around town doing whatever he pleased.

"Pink stuff? Must have been perfume. You smell like roses," Clyde stated what it seemed like to him.

"I do…? Huh… Yeah, I mean I guess," Chandler took a moment to smell himself. The black haired boy was exactly right that is how he smelt, it was strange for perfume to be this strong however.

"Perfume that magically makes girls attracted to you? That's weird…" Lincoln pulled out his cellphone. School was over for today, and he hoped things were fine. He would be annoyed if Lynn suddenly started going after Chandler like those women did, but honestly this whole thing sounded like one of those late night commercials.

"Where were you when this started, Chandler?" The white haired teen asked while dialing his home phone.

"The Hollow Oak Mall." Chandler simply said.

"Hello?" Lisa was the first to answer. Lincoln was glad that the younger children's school let out an hour earlier than theirs.

"Hey, Lisa. Something weird's going on," Lincoln claimed to Lisa. Clyde and Chandler let the two siblings talk, trying to figure out this mystery themselves or how to handle it. The rich teenager was at least being friendlier to them after they saved him.

"Indeed. Coincidentally, I was about to try and get into contact with you. There appears to be an odd phenomenon occurring around town," Lisa claimed. The white haired teenager scratched his head. This didn't sound good at all. At times like this he was glad he broke Clyde free out of his obsession of Lori after a harsh reality check, but even Clyde never got this bad.

"Pink clouds are turning guys into chick magnets? It's happened with someone at school just now…" Lincoln guessed as he looked down at his guardian gauntlet, wondering how bad things were going to get.

"Precisely! It's also turning girls into magnets for males. It doesn't seem to matter their strength, intelligence or anything about them… when a person's hit with this pink spray, they suddenly have everyone around falling in love with them," Lisa elaborated. There had been dozens of posts about this online, mainly from upset people, many of who had lost their loved ones when they suddenly fell for someone else entirely out of nowhere with no context or warning.

"Oh that's just great… any clue where I should start looking?" Lincoln asked. His prodigal sister was not going to argue with him investigating these plausibly Xeran induced oddities.

"Let's see… Ahah! About three chirps just got posted on Chirper. It seems the Hollow Oak Mall is where people are currently being mesmerized," Lisa claimed. Most of the emotionally destroyed people that posted online at least were sharing pictures of their location, so it was easy to figure out where.

"I'll head over there right away," Lincoln hung up. Lisa had told him this morning that she had made some upgrades and was able to put the final touches on the guardian gauntlet overnight, problem was that he had barely listened to her long lecture and explanation of any of it.

"Clyde, can you help Chandler? Just make sure he doesn't get mobbed," Lincoln requested his best friend to continue aiding their anti-friend. He never imagined he would be in this position, but here they were.

"'Course, bro. I know the best places where no girls go," Clyde happily agreed, not aware of how he had just insulted himself.

"Uh… thanks you guys," Chandler could only say, still in shock at all they were doing for him, despite them metaphorically exchanging bad blood.

"Don't thank us. We're just trying to make sure no one gets hurt," Lincoln reassured. When he turned around, about to leave, he bumped into someone coming around the corner.

"Oof! …oh hey, Lincoln, sorry about that. I was just coming to look for you," Lynn greeted her brother. He had not showed up to the football field outside where the practice game was supposed to be held.

"Lynn! You should get away from… wait, you're not being affected by Chandler?" Lincoln questioned. They all were confused about this.

"…I want to punch him if that counts?" Lynn confusedly replied. Lincoln let Clyde and Chandler continue their leave.

"I don't know what's going on, exactly, but it is a bit insane. Just avoid big mobs, and pink clouds, okay Lynn?" Lincoln then tried to head past her for the exit, but she grabbed his arm.

"Wait, weren't you going to join me for practice? I still need to talk to you too," Lynn reminded him. He could see her saddened look. Lincoln didn't wish to act like he was trying to avoid her. He couldn't stand seeing any of his sisters sad, but this was out of his control.

"Sorry, Lynn, but this is important. You know I wouldn't mean to miss out on your practice… We'll have to talk later, I know it's something seriously special," Lincoln apologized. It was obvious to him how important this personal talk she wanted to have with him was going to be, if he had the time to waste he would at least listen but sadly he did not.

"…okay…" Lynn sighed gave in, watching him leave for the Hollow Oak Mall.

"What game are you playing this time, Lame-o…?" Ronnie Anne thought to herself. After realizing and watching the scene nearby unfold in secret, she walked the opposite way, angrily.

"Oh, Perfan… you are just the best," Mirayu sat on a bench in the mall, licking away at an orange flavored ice cream cone. Hiding in a bunch of fake bushes behind her was the monster she created, that had been wreaking havoc secretly.

"Anything for the majesty… and my mistress," Perfan replied. The disguised general squealed, pointing across at a nearby golf store.

"That guy at the counter looks very nerdy! Let's give him a fun time when he comes out," Mirayu ordered.

"As you command…" Her monster nodded. They waited for a few minutes until a skinny man in a blue sweater walked out. Perfan aimed his blaster from the bushes.

"Enjoy it while you can," Perfan squeezed the big air ball, which then sprayed out a large pink mist that hit the poor civilian, sending him into a coughing fit and dropping the shoes he had just bought.

"What the heck was that?" The man wondered aloud, reaching down to get the shoe box, but he saw a thin hand grab it first. When he stood up, he saw a beautiful woman.

"Did you drop this handsome?" She asked, her long blonde hair and black dress making her look like she came straight from a horrible fashion show. She had a wedding ring on her hand as well.

"Hahahaha! This is so much fun!" Mirayu began to laugh as vast numbers of women began to approach this man, a few leaving their boyfriends confused.

"Here comes the best part!" The majesty's general of emotions excitedly exclaimed. She watched as a prism of pink essence began to escape from the lovesick people, and blue essence expel from the heartbroken. All of it was being absorbed into Perfan.

"Yesss! More! More!" Perfan laughed while standing out from hiding. Everyone was either too sad or distracted with their love mobs to even care that a monster had appeared.

"The majesty will be proud of us!" Mirayu hummed happily, "Maybe he'll even let me execute Zeggfor for his incompetence?"

"Not so fast!" Lincoln ran up and slashed the monster in the back with his gauntlets claws.

"Grah!" Perfan roared, sparks exploding off of his back as it stopped absorbing the essence from those civilians.

"Oh my! It's the child!" Mirayu laughed, seeing Lincoln standing there with his clawed gauntlet ready.

"You need to run, ma'am. It's not safe here," Lincoln got between the two, thinking she was in need of protection. Mirayu began giggling.

"Oh my, how chivalrous… another fool fallen for my charm," the General of Emotions grabbed him by his neck and hoisted him into the air. Lincoln felt his windpipe being squeezed tightly.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my precious little teensy tiny guardian. I'm Mirayu, the General of Emotions of the Xeran army," she eagerly introduced herself. That overjoyed tone was scary to him.

"Let's give him a special personal blast of your love perfume, Perfan," Mirayu said. The Xeran elite monster aimed his blaster, squeezing and firing. Lincoln felt an overwhelming smell and pink cloud overtake him.

"Alright, no more playing around…!" Lincoln pulled his red curved tip star out of his pocket and inserted it into the back of his gauntlet, which closed.

"Aiiiiiiiieeeeee!" Mirayu felt the gauntlet release a burst of fire directly into her face, making her let go of him. Lincoln quickly jumped back, panting. One quick look around, and he was relieved that no one was looking at any of them, or even the upcoming battle at large. Anyone that was not love stricken were stuck staring at the ground in sadness.

"Here we go!" Lincoln slammed his gauntlet into the ground, watching the flames surround him, his red suit and helmet appearing quickly.

"Guardian Mode! Engage! Lock in!" Lincoln held the helmet with one hand on the front and back, hearing the clunk noise that told him it was secure. He hit the side of his helmet with a tap, making the black visor cover his upper face.

"Guardian Red! Protector of-" Lincoln was hit with a large rock that knocked him away, crushing him slightly.

"Oh gosh… that really hurts," Guardian Red coughed, shoving the rock off him before getting up. Perfan stood there, terrified. Mirayu had thrown the big rock at him with ease, even if that was just a decoration for this part of the mall it was heavy.

"You… burnt… my… HAIR!" Mirayu shrieked, her hair half-charred. Lincoln watched her turn to her true monstrous form, the mask spinning upside down into her rage mode, her fingers stretching into claws while making cracking noises as her skin changed color. The red guardian was terrified. He had made a grave mistake by hitting her with the fire from his morphing sequence.

"Can I go back to being strangled and blasted with perfume?"


	13. Brawl In The Mall

"I don't think this tactic is working," Lisa spoke while viewing her brother's fight through his visor. Lincoln was dodging attacks from both Mirayu and Perfan.

"Oh, come on!" Lincoln cried when Perfan began to spray out the pink spray from his blaster. To him, it was becoming so thick that it resembled a pink fog that he wouldn't be able to see through. The red guardian could only be happy that security had long since started evacuating everyone.

"Go, my textoth!" Mirayu's angry tone roared. Lincoln felt a slash across his back. He gritted his teeth as sparks flew off of him. Three more quick blades hit him in the shoulder, chest and leg. The teenage boy grabbed two of the jagged scimitars, not letting go.

"Have you tried using your guardian weapons alternate mode? We went over this already," Lisa asked. She had explained everything to him about the finished version of the gauntlet.

"I forgot how!" Lincoln confessed his lack of attention to her lecture. He pulled the two jagged scimitars hard, ripping the two textoth out from their hiding in the pink fog and throwing them to the floor.

"Only cowards fight like that!" Lincoln slashed the first textoth in the face, watching its mask explode before it collapsed. The second one tried to get up, but he stabbed its stomach and then grabbed its leg with his other arm. He lifted it up off the floor, spinning around and throwing it behind him. That skeleton monster crashed into three more textoth waiting in the ambush.

"You seem to gain impressive strength when angry," his genius sister said, "I suggest elevating yourself out of this fog."

"Okay, got it!" Lincoln ran for the nearby elevator he knew that would lead to the third floor.

"I don't think you have time to wait on the elevator," Lisa sighed at his presumed idiocy. Several textoth began to approach Lincoln, thinking they cornered him. The young boy looked at his gauntlets claws.

"Don't call me stupid just yet, Lisa," Lincoln laughed, hopping up and digging his claw into the concrete that was in the weird design around the elevator shaft. There were plenty of openings for him to grab with his other hand, or place his foot into. He began to pull himself up, the red guardian treating this like extreme rock climbing.

"Ohhh! That brat is trying to escape!" Mirayu stomped, and then turned to Perfan, "What are you waiting for, you idiot?! Go after him!"

"Y-yes mistress," Perfan went to help with the textoth.

"You're insane, but frankly that's what we need. Here's how to activate your guardian weapon's alternative mode," Lisa informed him while he continued to climb until he reached the third floor.

"I don't even want to know how you came up with these…" Lincoln hopped off the elevator once he was high enough, rolling when he landed on the third floor of the hollow oak mall. He could see the six textoth and the tired Perfan at the top of the stairs that also led there.

"Guardian Red, Dual Mode! Engage!" Lincoln spun around and struck a boxer style stance of a pose, and then punched his fist onto his gauntlet, watching it flatten slightly before it split into two pieces, the second attaching to his wrist. His shield might be smaller, but he found the extra weapon to be his lifesaver at the moment.

"There is no one around here," Perfan groaned. All the rose smelling love potion of a perfume he had sprayed on the red guardian was next to worthless. The hope of having human shields had failed.

"You and me, big guy! Let's go!" Lincoln pointed one of his clawed gauntlets at the monster, before he began to run toward him, leaning forward to keep his body low. The six textoth in the way instantly tried to stop him.

"Make sure not to get hit too much," Lisa reminded him. There was only so much abuse his guardian form could take before he would be forced back to normal.

"Thanks, Lisa," Lincoln smiled. The first four textoth all swung at him. He blocked all the swords with his gauntlets, grunting as they kept pressing, trying to get through his guard. The teenage boy forced his weapons up, knocking all their arms up and breaking their guard in counter.

"You fools! Be careful!" Perfan shouted as the red guardian spun around with his arms extended, slashing the four textoth multiple times. Sparks and smoke erupted from their chests as they all collapsed, beginning to turn to dust.

"Think it's time you give up that essence of yours… and break whatever mind control you put on everyone," Lincoln pointed his left clawed gauntlet at the Xeran elite. For not having any real fighting lessons under his belt, the teenager was able to hold his own so far with his muscles' reflexes. They all were oblivious to the fact they were being recorded, at this very moment.

"Or what? You're gonna give me a haircut?" The perfume spraying monster laughed, the red guardian taking a step back.

"Nope. I'm going to beat it out of you and help my friend… er… frenemy," Lincoln declared, getting into sprinting position before launching straight for Perfan. The monster tried to slow him down by spraying more of the pink mist to try and make him flinch.

"I've seen that trick already," he ducked under the remaining two textoth's attack, grabbing them both by their arms and throwing them off the side railing from the third floor, hearing their cries for help as they crashed into the food court, breaking multiple tables and chairs when they landed at such velocity.

"Mi-mistress Mirayuuu!" Perfan screamed for help. He swung his blaster at Lincoln, hitting him in the helmet, which did not hurt much. Lincoln swung, slicing the air ball that the monster would squeeze to spray his mist, it fell apart into multiple pieces.

"Here, let me take you to her!" Lincoln tackled Perfan to the railing, hacking and slashing away with his claws. He grinned over how the fight had tilted to his favor.

"Drop kick!" He jumped up and slammed both feet into the monsters face, knocking him over the railing. This was something he had seen Lynn do a million times. He heard Perfan's echoing scream as he fell, before hitting the ground at full force, breaking part of it on impact. Lincoln landed on his stomach, still on the third floor.

"Excellent work, Lincoln," Lisa congratulated her brother, hearing him groan.

"I think I pulled something…" he panted. She sighed, presuming he had overdone it. The teenager forced himself back to his feet, before heading for the stairs. He had to make sure he won that fight for real, after all he still had Mirayu to deal with.

"Oh… No way!" Lincoln gasped. Perfan stood up, his glass vial in his chest now shattered and left with only a little bit of its rose scented liquid. Mirayu was beside the monster, and she looked more furious now.

"…I can't believe this… I'm failing more miserably than Zeggfor! And I have an elite!" The General of Emotions began to stomp toward Lincoln after she shoved her elite Xeran aside, not caring for his well being now that he was worthless.

"Lisa… I uh… I can't win this fight here. Even I can tell that much," Lincoln claimed. His optimism and determined spirit was not going to do him much favor against an ancient enraged monster whom he had literally burnt half of her hair off.

"If you pull out, she may go on a rampage and just slaughter everyone for their essence instead," Lisa retorted. Running away at this crucial moment when they had one of the two monsters almost defeated was very bad. The red guardian rolled his shoulder and stretched. His body was sapped entirely.

"…I have an idea," Lincoln suddenly gasped.

"Is it a relatively competent one?" Lisa requested.

"No, but if it fails, I'll at least have went out on a strong note," Lincoln hummed. His sister wondered how he was able to remain so joyous and optimistic when tired or in a bad situation. The green-skinned monster continued to approach him.

"Bring it on, ugly!" Lincoln taunted. Mirayu's eye twitched before she inhaled. He had a bad feeling about this, throwing himself to the side as she exhaled a large wave of fire from her large maw, lighting all the fake plants on fire.

"Hey! Fire is supposed to be my thing!" Lincoln complained while getting up. He received a hard claw to the stomach that sent him flying, and crashed into a vending machine, sparks erupting everywhere as he collapsed onto the floor, the machine's busted glass going everywhere, as well as the snacks it once contained.

"Well… I think I only got two ribs broken there," he coughed, when he noticed the heavy machine get picked up with ease by Mirayu. She stood over him, looking ready to crush him into a grisly pile.

"Any last words?" She asked with her teeth grinding. Perfan just watched from the sideline.

"Yeah… let me just ask… you like making people suffer through love. Is it because you're a two-masked witch who can't hope to have anyone truly care or love for you?" Lincoln replied. Lisa could only bite her nails, hoping her brother was not trying to make things worse for himself.

"The majesty will make me his highness one day," Mirayu stood there, her fingers digging into the sides of the machine and slightly bending the metal. The teenager laughing at her, it was not helping her unstable emotional state.

"Heh… you with this majesty, loser? You Xerans are ancient monsters that have gone and conquered other dimensions, right? So how long have you been doing it? Hundreds of thousands of years? Your majesty won't care about one idiot making a bunch of other people look like idiots. Now what do you think of that!"

"That… that's… you…"

"Oh no!" Lincoln got crushed by the vending machine, hard enough to rattle his body to the hard floor. It was barely on him for two seconds before it got smashed aside, breaking a store window damaging the inside of the shop.

"Ooougggh…" the white haired boy groaned in agony, having lost his guardian form from that attack. The red star popping out of his gauntlet that had fused back together into one, being forced out of his morphed form hurt a lot. He grabbed the red curved star before Mirayu picked him up and pinned him against the wall. Lincoln received punch after punch from her.

"You burnt my hair! Ruined my perfect image! And then so much as mock the very foundation of my reign of chaos!" Mirayu shrieked loud enough to be heard outside. Lincoln got thrown through stacks of dusty boxes, some of them collapsing on him.

Lincoln forced himself to his feet, only to receive a hard punch directly to his face. He had lost contact with Lisa and was not being given the opportunity to morph into his guardian mode again.

"Am I dead…?" Lincoln thought while waiting, having gotten a black eye from that attack. He waited, but felt nothing else collide with him. He sat up from the ground, looking over.

"Mi-mistress Mirayu! Please, gather yourself!" Perfan begged. Lincoln stood up to see the General of Emotions crying into her monster, having snapped out of her angry form, now that she was broken from all the insults she endured that were plaguing her heart and mind.

"Uhh… it actually worked…?" Lincoln was stunned. His idea went nowhere near as well as he hoped, but it still worked.

"This isn't over, guardian! We'll cross paths again!" Perfan used the last pink mist it could create from its blaster, being shot to the ground to create a veil. By the time it cleared, they were both gone. He sighed while pocketing his red star.

"Well… I guess I won," Lincoln looked down at the tons of snacks that had fallen out from the vending machine around his feet, and he picked up a chocolate bar with strawberry filling and unwrapped it.

"I did take away that monsters ability to spray… and I made her break down," Lincoln hummed, thinking now he knew the General of Emotions's weakness, he noticed on the ground was another essence sphere just like the one in his star, that had fallen from the monster. The teenager groaned pocketing it, when he looked at the time he saw how late it was.

"I need to get moving, I'll give Lisa this later. I'm going to be late for my karate class," the red guardian exhaled, just making his way for the exit while eating the candy bar.

"I'm going to smell like roses for days…"


	14. The Best Of The Best?

In a more wooded area in the outer part of Royal Woods, there was a party going on. The time reached seven in the evening minutes ago.

"Things sure got a lot livelier," Lori commented. Standing beside her was her boyfriend, Bobby, with his black hair slightly done up and in a green coat.

"Yeah. Brandon's always able to crank things up fast when he needs to," Bobby nodded. The older brother of Ronnie Anne was known as the man of a dozen jobs. He always had multiple jobs, and some days he had to work at four at once. Lori's parents liked the Santiago boy a lot for that simultaneous hardworking and happy attitude, "Have things been alright at home?"

"They've all been fine. Nothing else has happened aside from Lincoln and Lisa spending a lot more time together. He's been a lot happier too since they started hanging out," Lori explained. It was good to know whenever their only brother was happy, even if half of the time he was as unpredictable as the rest of the family. It seemed like he still had not really found himself yet in a metaphorical sense. Lori though tended to have trouble remembering everyone's well being at their home. Having ten siblings would make it hard for anyone.

"Hey, that's great! …Y'know, I just noticed something," Bobby stated.

"What is it?" His girlfriend looked around the party that looked normal so far, "Did you see a skunk?"

"No, I mean… look around us. There's not many guys here…" Bobby pointed out. The short blonde haired girl realized this when taking one glance. The party in the woods was filled with a majority of women, but she did not see what was odd about that.

"So? Are there a few staring at you or something?"

"No, babe… it seems like me and Brandon must be the only guys here… and I know a good few of those girls are engaged. But now it's like all the guys vanished," Bobby explained why it concerned him. It was clear that the party guests were trying to cheer up to hide some sorrow that was infesting them, Lori could tell too but she brushed it off.

"Bobby Boo-boo bear, you're just over-thinking things… They've probably got that flu bug that's spreading around," Lori insisted while calling her boyfriend by his nickname. She found his theory ridiculous, with the belief that coincidences happened. She just wanted to enjoy the party with him.

"I mean… yeah, babe. You're probably right," Bobby focused his attention back to her.

"Let me go relieve myself. I'll be right back," he excused himself. Lori let him go, pulling out her cellphone to text in the meantime.

In another part of the woods, someone currently walked, crunching the leaves and twigs beneath the soles of his boots, his body in a long fancy black coat, and a cloak wrapped around his body that swayed with the wind.

"There it is," the cloaked figure looked up to a bird's nest in a tree very high up. He reached into his cloak, beginning to pull a sword from his side that had weird engravings covering it. The majesty's general slashed upwards once, which sent a silver slash of energy upwards, cutting right through the tree branch and sending the nest falling.

"Perfectly caught. Excellent work again, Teronzata, the majesty's most skilled blade master!" Teronzata monologues to himself after he caught the birds nest on his flat blade. He tilted his sword upward, making the bundle of twigs slide down to the hilt.

"Oh dear," the blade master lost his ecstatic tone and all of his self entertainment when he pulled out the essence sphere from the nest that Zeggfor had lost in the battle against Lincoln yesterday.

"Even the unborn life has plenty of essence inside," he spun the sphere in his hand, looking at the eggs in the nest. His top hat covered his face with deep shade. The majesty's heart had stolen the essence from the eggs before they had the chance to hatch.

"…Sadly, what is not earned with hard work is not deserved," Teronzata let the essence escape from the sphere, watching the rainbow of colors pour back into the eggs. Once the essence was returned, he put the nest on the end of his blade.

"One day, you'll sing the tale of my honor," he smiled while putting the nest back into the highest tree branch he could reach. He sheathed the sword, letting the nest rest there with the unborn birds given another chance at life. Teronzata looked down at the essence sphere, watching it swirl with the majesty's dark purple energy once again.

"Hey, uh… is someone there?" Bobby's voice rung out, the young adult having heard the self praise from a long distance away.

"Hmm… it would be a shame to let this go to waste… the majesty would take it and just swallow it right back up," Teronzata quickly pondered on what to do, "On one hand, I could cut the person to ribbons, take their essence to make the majesty proud of the best swordsman alive!"

Teronzata then had a grin on his face. "…or… I could give another chance at having an apprentice. What the majesty doesn't know will not harm him once I display my ultimate ability again!"

Teronzata squeezed the orb of energy, watching the essence begin to be drained from his arm and forcefully enter the sphere. The dark purple energy inside it began to glow and become wild.

"Hello? Is someone… Oh hey dude, are you lost?" Bobby stepped through a bush to see him and his shady outfit. The very pale man stood turned around to him.

"Me? Lost? No, my naïve fool. I am here for the same reason you are," Teronzata said, his over ecstatic tone surprising to Bobby. He had disguised himself as a regular teenager.

"Uhh… the bathroom?" Bobby guessed what he had already done. He only came because he was worried a party guest was lost in the woods.

"No! The essence of the world guides my path as I wander throughout this land like a loyal nomad to their majesty… I'm sure there is someone you worship, correct?" Teronzata questioned. Bobby felt uncomfortable now from seeing the sword handle sticking out from the side of the man's cloak.

"Uhhhh, worship…? I mean, yeah… kind of," Bobby nodded, referring to Lori. He never would refer to their relationship as worshiping one another, but he would gladly if she wanted him to.

"Then you to must want to feel like the best of the best… which is sadly impossible, as long as I am able to draw my blade and my breath, but becoming the second best of the best to make the one you worship happy with their decision to pick you, is a must be wanted goal for any true man, yes?" Teronzata continued while beginning to walk circles around Bobby. The Santiago boy attempted to remain calm, thinking this man might be a fantasy role player going overboard with his act.

"I mean… yeah, what kind of man wouldn't want their other half happy?" Bobby replied. This was getting annoying now. He was about to just sock him and run for it, when he felt something plunk off his head and land in his hand when he held it out to catch it.

"Ow… what is this?" Bobby hesitantly questioned. It looked like an over sized marble to him.

"That…? That is what many would see as a heart, and like many before, all they have discovered is that special substance that drives one to live… you could say it absorbs the darkness for your bright path to walk, to illuminate the future!" Teronzata answered. His words now caught Bobby's interest.

"So I take this thing for the person I worship will be lucky and happy, is that it?" Bobby decided to play along.

"Yes. You'll take it if you want to make the one you worship happy. You could say it is a gift from the best swordsman in this world! …give or take several dimensions, where all other warriors perished…" Teronzata's voice trailed off to the end.

"Heh… for an egotistical nerd, you sure are nice… I'll make my girl happy with this," Bobby accepted jokingly with a smile. The strange man in black clapped his hands.

"Excellent! May our paths cross again soon, young apprentice!" Teronzata pulled his sword out before slashing the ground, sending a dozen leaves flying into the air. Bobby was stunned by this sudden act. When the leaves cleared, the man had vanished.

"…Huh… Well… that just happened," Bobby began to walk back to the party, just hoping the weird nerd as he saw him as would not get lost in these woods.

"Ah, yes… soon, I will have my apprentice to pit my skills against and teach my every movement," Teronzata sat beside the nest on the branch, while reverting to his monster form, right behind the leaving boy's back. His Xeran appearance resembled that of a strange, humanoid plant, vines and leaves sticking out from his head, the rest of his body covered by the clothes he wore. The majesty's general suddenly heard the sound of an angry bird.

"Gah! You dare attack me, avian fool?! I spared your family out of the kindness of the honor code!" Teronzata fell out of the tree from the mother bird's surprise attack.

"There you are! I was worried a snake bit your snake," Lori claimed, having come to look for Bobby. He blushed slightly at the comment.

"Sorry. I got caught up talking to some weird kid," Bobby apologized, aware he had been a while, guessing his girlfriend was more worried that he might be doing something else away in the woods with one of the many other girls at this party.

"Here, this is for you," Bobby held out the small essence sphere, Lori taking it in her hands.

"Whoa… what is it?" Lori stared at the shiny ball full of the spinning dark purple energy.

"I'm supposed to give it to the one I 'worship' to make them happier. It's meant to suck up the darkness to make your future's path clearer," Bobby explained the best of what he recalled from that really long and awkward talk with the weird swordsman.

"Awwwww! That's so sweet, Boo-boo bear!" Lori happily wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping it gripped tight in her hand. He was glad to hear she liked the gift, and made a mental note to thank that nerd whenever he saw him again.

"It's nothing, really… come on, let's go relax," Bobby insisted.

"Alright!" she agreed, beginning to head off with him holding his hand, to enjoy the party. However, the purple essence began to be absorbed into her while she had the sphere in her possession, she and Bobby never suspected a thing. Lori hoped everyone at home was alright, since a lot of the older siblings had plans for today and would be back late.

"I'm home!" Lincoln called out as he entered through the door, stretching.

"Oh, Lincoln, thank goodness! I was paralyzed when I lost contact like that with you…" Lisa was the first to greet him with a hug, wrapping her arms around his waist. She was waiting in anticipation when he got forced out of guardian mode.

"Sorry for making you worry, but I had karate class… I was late, so the teacher made me do a lot more training preparations than the others," Lincoln though was happy, despite the scratches bruises and his swollen black eye.

"Did you destroy the creature?" The prodigal child requested. Her older brother shook his head.

"Sorry… the thing survived everything I threw at him… but the good news is he can't spray that stuff anymore, so he won't be much of a problem," the white haired teenager proudly stated, thinking he still won.

"I also got this from him," he then pulled out the empty essence sphere, Lisa gasping while taking it.

"Another energy core?! This was in the monster? This is excellent!" She exclaimed, shocked. Thankfully no one was in the living room with them at the moment to witness this.

"So now you can get another guardian suit going with that, right?" Lincoln asked, hoping that now he could have help. His super genius sister looked to the floor, unsure about it.

"I… we don't have a lot of material left, Lincoln. What if your suit is in need of more dire repairs? If the gryunithil is not available for that need, it could be disastrous," Lisa argued, hesitant of it all.

"We'll find a way to get more of that stuff… A guardian's a guardian Lisa. It'll be nice to have more than just one, right?" Lincoln smiled. She nodded as she adjusted her glasses, understanding his logic.

"I'll do my best… why do you smell like roses?" Lisa said confusedly.

"Oh, that… I got sprayed by the pink stuff from the monster… or more like bathed in it practically," Lincoln sighed. Thankfully no women had been after him yet, so he hoped that Perfan's love potion brew was broken from the fight.

"Well, no harm in smelling pleasantly," she then went for the garage to begin working. Lincoln began to make his way upstairs, the rose smell beginning to spread all over the house from him. He guessed that not many were not home yet, so all he could do now was wait for Lynn to arrive, so they could talk personally like she requested.

Lincoln looked at his black eye in the mirror.

"Boy, oh boy… what'll I tell everyone when they get home?"


	15. Heart Strings

"I don't know why… but being able to relax is a lot more relaxing now," Lincoln was in his room, reading an Ace Savvy comic, lying flat on his back in bed. He guessed it was just over the heroic deeds in general being able to enjoy the peace he fought so hard for made it feel so much more rewarding.

"Goo goo!"

"Huh?" Lincoln was snapped out of his thoughts. Lily had wandered into his room and was standing beside his bed, her head barely peeking out over it. He put the comic aside, reaching down and picking up the youngest Loud.

"Hey there, Lily! How did your day go?" Lincoln tickled her chin, hearing Lily giggle away. He then hugged her, guessing that meant it went well. He let her lay on his chest while he pulled out his cellphone, dialing Clyde's phone number and putting it to his ear.

"Hi Lincoln what's up?" His best friend answered. The red guardian rubbing his baby sister's back while she nuzzled into him lovingly. Lily was just sweet like that to him.

"Nothing much Clyde…" Lincoln replied, "I got sprayed by that pink junk, but thankfully no one has been after me… is Chandler alright?"

"Well, that's good… but Chandler's crashing with me tonight. No matter where we went, eventually girls just showed up and it never went well," Clyde answered. His best friend was surprised to hear that.

"So it's still in effect…" Lincoln murmured, guessing that Perfan's love spray would never end until the monster himself was destroyed. Mirayu made things complicated in a completely different regard.

"Call me if you need help. I'm gonna help get started on dinner," Clyde insisted.

"Alright. Goodnight, Clyde… and thanks," his best friend hung up.

"Aw… are you hungry?" Lincoln asked Lily, seeing her gnawing on his thumb. She only had two teeth, so it was not like she could do much harm to him. The teenager stood up, carrying her in his arms as he began to make for downstairs. Just then, he encountered Leni in the hallway.

"Hi, Lincy! Wow… you smell… good," Leni greeted him. Lincoln noticed a mesmerized look appear on her face.

"Uhh… thanks?"

"Hey, uh… Lincoln… Did I ever tell you how cute you were?" Leni leaned toward him, now he was feeling terrified.

"Lily, help," Lincoln begged, receiving an adorable laugh in reply. Cuteness was not going to save him now, as much as he wished otherwise.

"Uh… th-thank you, Leni, you look really good too," Lincoln replied while heading for the stairs. It looked like his worst fear came true. The rose smelling love spray he was coated with began its effects, being in a house full of girls it was almost like a well thought out trap.

"Really? That's so nice! Say, can you come help me with my new dress? I could use a nice model to help it along," Leni requested. Her only brother had a bad feeling about this, but he quickly had an idea in mind.

"Look out, Leni, behind you!" Lincoln pointed behind her, "It's the Hash Slinging Slasher!"

"*Gasp* Where?! Where is he?!" in her moment of terror, her brother vanished with Lily in his arms. He was terrified with what he had just gone through.

"Okay, so… Looks like I have to avoid Leni, but that shouldn't be too hard," Lincoln let out a stressed sigh while arriving in the kitchen, resting Lily down so he could prepare a bottle for her. Right now their mother was in the shower and their father was lying down early due to a bad headache he had gotten.

"Here you go, Lily," Lincoln handed over the bottle of milk to her. Lily clapped her hands before taking the bottle and beginning to drink it down. The teenage boy rubbed her head, trying to just relax. The thought then came to him that he should check on how Lisa was doing on the second guardian suit.

"Yo, bro," Luna spoke up. Her only brother turned around, hoping things did not go as badly as they did with Leni.

"H-hi, Luna, what's up?" Lincoln greeted her, Lily still drinking her bottle and barely paying any attention. His rock aspiring older sister was surprised when seeing his face. The black eye stuck out, and the lots of scratches and cuts everywhere else were thankfully small enough to just be seen as regular accidents.

"Whooooa, dude! What happened to you?" Luna asked. Seeing her brother like this was a depressing sight to her, even if he was smiling.

"What? Oh the black eye? Errrr… I got into a fight, that's all," Lincoln answered. He was at least giving them half of the truth that wouldn't expose what he was actually doing.

"You in a fight? Aren't you more of the runner type?" Lucy startled the two, having appeared out of nowhere again like she always did, having overheard this part of the conversation.

"Guess you could say I was a bit mobbed…" Lincoln added. being surrounded and forced to fight was a lot worse than engaging in a fight itself, but he was making it out to be like he had one of the roughest days at school. Half truth was better than no truth to him.

"Who beat you up, bro?" Luna soon had that same expression Leni did that Lincoln then noticed, "I'll make sure they regret raising one hand to you!"

Lincoln looking to Lucy, but she was still fine. He was not going to complain though. He turned to Luna again. "Lu-Luna calm down it's been handled… I think Lily needs a diaper change. Can you take care of that?"

"Sure, anything for you, bro!" The rocker nodded. She usually was the one to take care of the infant Loud, but this time it felt like she obeyed a command from him than anything. Lincoln let Luna take Lily off while she drank her bottle to get her cleaned up, he stayed in the kitchen with Lucy.

"Whew… Lucy, are you feeling okay?" Lincoln asked after regaining his composure. That was two sisters now that he had to avoid.

"I'm fine… Just still trying to get over this cold," Lucy coughed.

"You have a cold?"

"Yes. Most of the younger kids caught it when playing outside so much the other day. I think the only one not sick so far is Lily," Lucy explained. Lincoln could breathe a sigh of relief over that. At least that explained why the gothic was not affected by the rose smell in the air. The cold had stopped up her nose making it harder to smell anything.

"Do you want me to get the first aid kit?" The raven haired girl offered to get him something to help with his eye and cuts. Lincoln shook his head and patted her back.

"Nah… I'll be fine, thanks. This isn't something to be ashamed about," Lincoln reassured he would live with this until it healed, to him the black eye was just a temporary trophy stuck to his body to represent the heroic lifestyle. He was more worried about how he was going to go about dealing with two love-struck siblings. If only his ex-girlfriend stepped back into his life, she could scare them off like she did a lot of people.

"I'm gonna go check up on Lisa. Will you do me a favor and keep Luna and Leni distracted?"

"If you wish," Lucy nodded, more than glad to do it. She was not able to perform any of her usual rituals because of this sickness anyway. Her dark masters frowned on those who were weak, or so that is what she had told him a lot.

"I owe ya one," Lincoln went off on that note, straight for the garage. Midway, he bumped into Lori who was coming through the front door.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, Lincoln! You almost made me drop Bobby's present!" Lori held the essence sphere in her hand. Lincoln went wide eyed upon seeing it. Initially he wanted to request her to give it to him and Lisa, but he caught himself when he remembered that they did not have enough material to make two suits. Lincoln decided to let his sister have it for now, since it seemed harmless enough.

"Sorry, Lori. Things are just getting crazier than usual around here," Lincoln apologized. Just where did Bobby find this essence sphere anyway, he asked himself.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood… Why does the house smell like roses? And why do you have a black eye?" Lori quirked. Barely three steps inside and the smell hit her nose fast, she could not even tell he was the source of it. The black eye on him was off-putting in itself.

"I got into a fight, don't worry about it… Wait a second… You don't love me?" He realized midway in his response that she was still normal and healthy. However, when spoken aloud, he instantly wished to have worded that better when he saw her upset expression.

"Lincoln! How can you say that?! If I didn't love you, I wouldn't even care to ask why you're hurt! I'm going to tell mom," Lori stomped off after that.

"Lisa's right. I really need to think before I speak," Lincoln sighed, guessing he had about fifteen minutes until his mother was out of the shower and scolding him for hitting a deep nerve in his sister's heart. He would handle that issue later when he needed to, and find a way to make it up to Lori. He continued to the garage.

"Hey Lisa! Is everything going o-" He tried to call out, but a bucket full of whipped cream landed on his head that had been carefully placed on the door that lead to the garage. It didn't take two seconds of thought to know who was behind it either.

"Woo! Surprise!" Luan chimed from behind the workbench she had been hiding beside.

"If it reconciles you, I did not condone this… but I was too preoccupied working to desist it," Lisa apologized to her only brother. Thankfully she had not begun work on the second guardian suit yet, but was more so making its design and coming up with a weapon of fitting quality.

"Why is this cream sweet?" Lincoln questioned after he had pulled the bucket off his head. He probably should be more interested in where she gathered all this whipped cream, but presumably the same place where her infinite pies resided.

"I made it that way! Just to show how 'sweet' you are to me," Luan answered with a groan-worthy pun. Lincoln could tell she was affected by the love spray already.

"Thanks, Luan… Please go away so I can privately talk to Lisa before I have a heart attack," Lincoln begged, before she could ask why he had a black eye.

"Aww, okay… but I 'incest' you come to my room later," Luan joked, as soon as she went out of the door frame. The garage door closed shut hard enough to shake part of the house, the door locked tight.

"I take it the monster's tactics have begun effecting you?" Lisa guessed. He came over while wiping all the mess out of his hair.

"Yeah! It's just like what Chandler said; they start off innocent and then it keeps getting worse and worse!" Lincoln declared. He was just glad he had not run into Lynn for that personal talk she wanted.

"I hate to tell you this, but it also turns out that there is more to just falling in love with someone…" Lisa declared, "After a while, everyone wants to fight for them as well. There are about two riots occurring in different parts of the city as result of this. Eventually it will lead to a more deadly calamity."

"That's the last thing I want to hear…! So stopping that monster from spraying his perfume has done nothing to the problem. Do you have any idea where he might be, Lisa?" Lincoln questioned while making sure his guardian gauntlet was ready.

"Hmm… well, I do have a theory about where this Mirayu Xeran general of theirs might be, and presumably the monster as well should be within her proximity," she answered.

"Please tell me where. I need to beat that monster as soon as possible," Lincoln wanted to make this all stop. His sisters fighting over him was one thing, but fighting over him out of romantic love was another issue that could not be explained remotely to either parent if they found out, that was if his mom wasn't captivated by the love spray either. Lincoln felt shivers up his back imagining it.

"I imagine right now Mirayu is breaking into businesses that sell wigs and hair so she can replace what you burnt off," Lisa stated. It was getting late, so naturally the Majesty's General of Emotions would be causing mass damage to any building she wanted to break into to get whatever she wanted.

"Alright… thanks, Lisa. If anyone asks where I am… I dunno, you're smart, you'll figure it out," Lincoln left through the side entrance of the garage, heading outside with Lynn's bike once again. His head hung low in shame as he walked.

"Lincoln? What are you doing?" Lynn's voice chimed in.

"L-Lynn! Uhh… Borrowing your bike?" Lincoln replied. Lynn had come outside to take the trash to the trash cans. Only his luck could get him into this position.

"Can we talk now? Please, I have something important to tell you," Lynn pleaded, very anxious from waiting long, so anxious that during practice, she wound up breaking one of the opponent's arms with a rough charge.

"Okay, Lynn. I guess I'm not in any real hurry…" Lincoln agreed to hear her out, mainly because she did not seem mesmerized. Otherwise, he would have hopped on that bike and pedaled away.

"Lincoln, for the last year or so, I've been having… feelings for you… the type I shouldn't have. I tried to ignore it, but it just kept coming back," Lynn began. Lincoln immediately regretted not high tailing it now. The confusing thing to him was that she did not seem affected at all by the perfume he was doused in, as far as he could tell anyway.

"What kind of feelings?" Lincoln asked. Scratch that, he then thought, as he already knew what kind of feelings.

"I…" Lynn paused, "…I feel a lot more for you than just a brother, you know? I'm… I'm in love with you, alright?"

"Oh, Lynn… not you too."

"So-sorry what do you mean by 'not you too'?" Lynn's nervously replied.

"I knew you'd be effected... That rose smell is brainwashing all of you. Luna, Leni and Luan are all in love with me too. I have to fix this," Lincoln hopped onto the bicycle after just presuming it was the perfume again, "Sorry; we'll have that personal talk you wanted so badly when I get back."

Lynn stood there shocked while watching him leave.

"…What… What just… what?"


	16. Roses Of Victory

"Ohhh! None of these are good! They're all horrible! Horrible, horrible, horrible!" Mirayu cried, while she bashed the mannequin heads off the counter. They had broken into a wig shop, just as Lisa had predicted, this is the third one however.

"Mistress, please! I believe we are wasting our time here. There is no piece of human hair that will ever match yours," Perfan stood nearby. He had a mannequin head thrown at him that bounced off harmlessly of his skin.

"Be quiet! You're nothing but a worthless waste of essence now! You even lost the majesty's heart I used to create you!" She shouted. Since Perfan had lost the ability to spray his love perfume, she saw him as worthless since they no longer could gather essence from humans without more of it.

"Hey you two!" Lincoln made his approach, catching them by surprise that they somehow were found by him. He inserted his red star into his gauntlet, quickly morphing into his guardian form.

"Guardian Red dual mode! Engage!" He got his double gauntlets prepared, tapping the side of his helmet to make the visor cover his upper face.

"It's that child again! Make yourself useful and dispose of him," Mirayu ordered while trying to look over more wigs. The Xeran elite monster looked to his general.

"Can you at least summon textoth for me, my mistress?" Perfan requested, but his master was too busy searching to say a word. Lincoln felt bad for the poor monster, but he prepared his two clawed gauntlets nonetheless and readied his stance.

"Sorry, but I need to… oh, I don't know… beat you to snap my family out of the love spray," Lincoln apologized, finding this situation very awkward.

"Lincoln, I believe apologizing to the enemy is the poor tactic of choice here… Leni started fighting with Lynn," Lisa chimed in. Thankfully she kept her laptop close most of the day. She was using it to work on the second guardian suit anyway, so watching him at the same time was easy.

"Wow… time sure flies… I'm going in," Lincoln began to sprint at the elite Xeran. Perfan swung his non functioning blaster at him. He could use it as a giant lumber if it could not shoot. The red guardian however caught it, and then swung his right claw in one swift slash. The monster's arm exploded as his blaster fell to the ground, having been sliced off.

"Gah! You stupid brat!" Perfan screamed. Seemingly he became a lot weaker since he lost the one of the majesty's essence spheres that Lincoln had taken after their last encounter.

"Oof!" Lincoln got punched through the window, the glass shattering and several mannequin heads falling on top of him with a knocked over shelf. He groaned in pain, standing up with a wig on his head that had dazzling rainbow streaks.

"Well… I wonder who donated this?" Mirayu's voice sounded, as Lincoln suddenly got blasted by a bolt of thunder, sparks flying off the back of his suit. He then was tossed back outside from the knock back, Perfan catching him, and then slamming him onto the ground and stomping on his back.

"This… is perfect!" Mirayu squealed, looking at the rainbow wig after having assaulted the teenager when his guard was down. The sound of the two fighting outside was ignored as she used her claws to cut off the remaining charred hair on her head, and then placed the rainbow wig neatly on her head.

"I'll get you affixed to my skull later… Perfan, I'm going to go, so you have fun!" Mirayu exclaimed seeing the perfume monster had the guardian in a strangle hold.

"What? La-lady Mirayu! What about me?" Perfan responded, while Lincoln used this distraction to squirm his way out.

"Sorry, but I already took the essence you gathered from you, soooo… Bye Bye!" she made a portal appear behind her that she hopped into, and instantly vanished afterwards.

"Wow… Lisa, do I have any finishers? I really feel horrible for this guy," Lincoln asked, having escaped Perfan's grasp during the whole shock of it all.

"Um… Well, I mean, affirmative. You have one, but it'll burn your energy rapidly," Lisa replied, instructing her only brother on how to activate it. She too felt horrible for the monster, but they knew his allegiance was with Xeran, and it was either defeat him or have most of his sisters fighting over him. There was no compromise.

"Talk about complicated… But alright," he got the gist of it. Perfan stood up, ready to face his opponent once more until one of them emerged the victor.

"Prepare for your demise," Perfan tried to sound intimidating, but he had no confidence at the moment. When the monster ran to attack him, Lincoln readily slashed its chest and stomach, more smoke and sparks flying off each hit.

"Here we go! The finish!" Lincoln declared. While Perfan was distracted, he aimed both of his claw weapons, watching all six of the sharp claws fire, each one impaling the monster in the arms and legs respectively, pinning him to the wall.

"Grah! What is this?!" the monster cried.

"Something that'll give you a better life than you had here," Lincoln began to aim his armored gauntlet toward the Xeran elite, watching it begin to emanate with fire, and his red essence began to pour into it.

"Guardian finisher! Flare burst, engage!" Lincoln's curved star exploded out from his gauntlet, sending him flying back from the kickback, while the flaming red star flew straight for the Xeran elite monster.

"Mistress Mirayuuu!" The star collided with him full force, piercing his chest. The wall behind the beast was even damaged slightly. The claws pinning him there returned to Lincoln.

"Sorry about this," Lincoln watched as Perfan fell over face first, and his corpse erupted into a large explosion in his defeat, what essence he had leftover began to go to the air. Lincoln morphed back to normal, holding his hand up and catching his red curve tip star.

"Ow ow ow! Hot hot hot!" Lincoln juggled it for a minute, feeling the scorching heat from the attack. He pocketed the red star, exhaling in relief.

"Wow! That was awesome!" another voice came.

Lincoln turned around and saw Jessica Blakesten, the reporter he saved the other day during his first battle against the Xeran.

"Jessica? What are you doing here?" Lincoln asked. She was well aware of his identity as Guardian Red after he had told her during their first meeting. The teenager was just unaware of how big it would become.

"I'm glad you at least know me… I kind've stuck you with a tracker… sorry," Jessica apologized. She lived up to her status as a journalist with stalking methods. She pulled the small sticker off his arm, which he had not even realized it was there. "Cheap and functional!"

"Uhh… okay? Thanks for not exposing me to the world. It means a lot," Lincoln thanked her as they both began to leave the scene, aware that police were on their way from the loud noise alone, the huge amount of property damage soon to be realized.

"Yeah, well I've become famous for meeting the 'guardian' of our city… I've been recording all your fights and cutting you out of them. That way the real you won't be shown," Jessica claimed.

"Well… I guess that's a fair trade for keeping my identity secret," the only Loud boy exhaled. He let her record his fights and let the world know he was on the side of justice. In trade she got to be famous for somehow being able to magically know where this mysterious hero was at all times and be the first of many to get his deeds on recording.

"I figured I'd at least let you know… Especially after I got to see that awesome move," Jessica claimed while holding a camcorder in her hand. The teenage boy thought that since Jessica wasn't flirting with him, Perfan's love perfume was no longer effective.

"Thanks for at least telling me… I'll see you around… but here's my phone number. Let me know if you see any signs of the Xeran," Lincoln checked his pockets to find a pen, and he used it to write his cellphone number down on the palm of her hand.

"You got it, hero! I still eternally owe you for saving my life," Jessica bid him farewell as the two split up and went their separate ways. After pocketing that convenient pen, Lincoln had to go retrieve Lynn's bicycle, mentally wishing he had his own now.

"Now I need to get home… and hope my grounding isn't too long," Lincoln knew he was not able to get out of punishment. Someone beyond Lisa and Lynn had to know he was out past his curfew, "…I've gotta get another way to communicate with Lisa."

Around 10:27pm, Lincoln had arrived home. He walked around to the side entrance of the garage, and rested the bike aside against the wall. He could tell Lisa was probably in her room at the moment, as there were random things on the workbench in the garage.

"What are these?" Lincoln wondered to himself, seeing three different parts to something on the bench, the essence sphere probably hidden by Lisa to make sure it went nowhere.

"Guess we'll have another guardian soon," he just put the parts back before continuing back into the home.

"I'm back!" Lincoln announced. He had no one to cover for him since Lisa probably was more distracted by her work to come up with any good lies.

"Oh hi, Lincoln. Did you finish that project for class?" his mother, Rita Loud, chimed up while holding a sleeping Lily in her arms.

"Project…? Oh, yeah, it should get me a B-… Is everyone okay?" Lincoln asked, as his mother messed up his hair slightly when rubbing his head.

"The house smells better than ever! I guess it helped everyone sleep early," Rita Loud stated, her son relieved to hear no one was fighting. He somehow skimmed by without even a shred of suspicion. He doubted they would even remember this night's events.

"However, young man, Lori told me something. Why would you ever say your sister doesn't love you?" His mother requested an explanation. Lori had been visibly upset when informing their mother about what he had said to her.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just spoke wrong… Besides, she'll forget about it anyway. She'll be talking to Bobby all night and move on like always," Lincoln claimed. With Lori always distracted with that phone of hers, he saw it was her personal stress relief.

"Lincoln, I may not know the whole story, but your sister is a lot more than that… I know you've been very happy lately. You've even been getting along a lot better with Lisa, and I know you'll make it up to Lori…"

"But I'm grounded?"

"For three days," she nodded. Lincoln would gladly take three days compared to a week. He was very tired anyhow. He was just glad that neither of his parents cared about the guardian gauntlet on his arm.

"That's fair… I better get ready for bed," he agreed, Lisa having told Rita that Lincoln was going to be up late working on this school project in the garage. Thankfully it was enough time for him to beat the monster and get back.

"You sleep well, sweetheart," Rita gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"I will… goodnight," Lincoln smiled as he headed off upstairs to get changed.

"You're welcome," he heard when he reached the top of the steps, seeing Lisa there in her pajamas.

"You really are the smartest person in the world, sis," Lincoln chuckled while they walked to his room.

"Well, I'm the seventh smartest, but thank you, nonetheless. I wanted to tell you that the guardian suit will be done in a few days. Sadly I cannot afford to sacrifice all nighters to it again," Lisa apologized.

"You've done plenty already, don't worry. Speaking of which… did you want me to pick between Lori or Lynn for this suit?" Lincoln asked.

"Yes. It only makes logical sense. You have the most experience with combat now, so much that you are even a much better candidate than me who can make the important vote on who shall possess this second guardian suit," Lisa said, putting something into his hand. It was a white star with random black parts on it, like a zebra pattern, the tips of it being straight and sharp instead of curved like his.

"…I'll do it, Lisa. No need to worry," Lincoln agreed after looking over the white and black star, "For now, goodnight."

"Goodnight," Lisa left the room, letting Lincoln prepare for bed. While he did, he still wondered what it was that Lynn wanted to talk to him about. Not that he would be able to find out until they got the next chance they had.

"Love is complicated enough… but somehow, family love is even more confusing."


	17. Chances

"It may only be two types of essence… but you certainly acquired an acceptable amount," the majesty's tone spoke out while watching Mirayu stand in front of the spinning core, twirling, giggling and laughing as bright pink and blue essence was being delivered from her. All of the essence gathered from the humans she and Perfan had targeted had paid out a good bit.

"Your majesty, if I may speak, this fool gathered the essence of love and sadness…" Zeggfor spoke up, "…But they lost your heart. That is worse than spitting in your face!"

"You've done the same, Zeggfor! I can create more… and unlike you, Zeggfor, Mirayu has done what she is best at, which is manipulating love and showing what it truly is… an evil, despicable emotion that crushes the combination of essences," the majesty spoke as Mirayu finished giving the essence, and backed away afterward, the core going back into the floor.

"Aww… thank you, your majesty!" the monster girl giggled. They were the only two generals in the room at the moment. The majesty reached into his chest, once again pulling out another essence sphere filled with more of his own dark purple energy.

"Since this has proven to be such an efficient tactic, I decree Teronzata be given a chance to prove his worth… that and perhaps I can be relieved of my headache from his irritating self-praise when he's away," the majesty threw the heart to Zeggfor. He caught it and bowed, aware that he was supposed to go turn it over to the fellow Xeran general. He began to walk away to find his cohort.

"This is all the majesty's fault… If that fool had permitted me to finish off that mosquito, we would have conquered this dimension already… there's only been one dimension we have not been able to conquer, and I refuse to make that two," Zeggfor grumbled to himself while roaming through the castle that was now full of textoth, all of who were roaming around and cleaning in their majesty's name.

"Teronzata!" the general's voice boomed as he stepped into the training room, where dozens of wooden dummies were set up. He found Teronzata cutting through multiple of them, practicing his swordplay as usual.

"Ah… yes, Zeggfor. How can I, the best swordsman in existence, aid you?" Teronzata turned to his comrade, catching the essence sphere thrown at him and viewing it in his gloved hand.

"It's your turn to gather essence. The majesty still doesn't trust us to go out in groups… I'll leave it to you on what to do," Zeggfor informed him. The majesty did not let the generals go out together, because they tended to squabble and brawl for the most essence to impress their majesty, and it always ended poorly like self sabotage.

"You can leave it to me! My blade will slice the essence from their heart with such precision, that they will not feel… He left," Teronzata noticed that Zeggfor had wandered away. He tossed his sword in the air, letting it flip over and stab into the ground beside him.

"My, you are just what I need… My apprentice needs to be appropriately prepared… *gasp*! I have the perfect plan!" Teronzata grabbed his sword. It glowed with an orange aura. He sliced the air, ripping a portal open. He then threw himself into it, vanishing instantly.

Two days had passed since Lincoln had defeated the first Xeran elite. He sat happily in the classroom, working silently on a test. Once again it was hard for him to not be happy with anything he did now. It was strange, but he was glad with it.

"Alright, class. Time is up," their teacher lightly tapped a bell on his desk to make sure everyone heard the test was done.

"…whoops… I didn't finish it," Lincoln groaned. Once again, history class made him take too much time thinking rather than answering, it did not help he was distracted with another issue. "Just before I could answer the last three of twelve questions… let's just hope I still pass."

In the next few minutes, Lincoln was at his locker. It was lunchtime now, so he had the next hour to do what he pleased on the school grounds. It depended on what the cafeteria was serving today.

"Hey Lincoln," he heard turning around, seeing Chandler standing there, looking awkward.

"What's up Chandler?" Lincoln greeted his rich classmate. He guessed that Chandler was feeling in debt to him now. He also saw Clyde catching up, having gotten held behind with talking to their teacher.

"So… you saved me, huh? I don't know how you did it, but… If it weren't for you two, those women would have probably done a lot more to me… with or without my consent," Chandler said. Lincoln did not have that thought cross his mind until now. He really never considered how far those captivated by the love perfume would have gone to get the one they were in love with, nor how far they would go if they did get them.

"Don't sweat it, Chandler," Clyde patted his back, "It'd be bad to have let you suffer like that,"

"You weren't the only one in danger… We had to do everything we could to help out," Lincoln claimed with that same smile on his face that he had given to the frenemy the other day.

"I… I'm sorry for how I've treated you… so…" Chandler pulled out a pair of small envelopes to them both. The two each looked them over confusedly.

"Special invitations? You're having a party?" Lincoln quirked. That was nothing new to him. It felt like every other week, the spoiled rich teenager was hosting a party. The oddity this time was it was not at the usual location.

"And we're invited?!" Clyde eagerly added.

"The first two invitations… I haven't even announced it yet, but a friend of my uncle's runs a night club off Seacross Boulevard. It's closed for now since he's out of town for the month. He left it to my uncle to keep it clean while he's away. My uncle is going to let me host a big party there this Friday night," Chandler explained to them that they had the unexpected honor of receiving the first two invites to perhaps his biggest party yet.

"Thanks a lot! Does this mean we're cool?" Lincoln asked.

"Kind've…" the spoiled teenager shrugged. The main thing that made the first five invitations to Chandler's party the best was that the first five people were allowed to bring another person with them, "I owed you guys for saving me, but doing it especially after how I treated you both? I think I can see you as real friends… Well, I'll see you around. I'm not going to miss lunch."

"Take care," Lincoln said as he and Clyde bid him goodbye and let him continue his way to the cafeteria to join the rest of their classmates for lunch.

"Dude, this is awesome!" Clyde high-fived his best friend.

"I know! And my grounding ends tomorrow! It's perfect!" Lincoln laughed, his grounding ending the day before the party. He wondered if this was his good karma coming back to reward him.

"I forgot what I wanted to ask you now… Oh, that's right!" Clyde pocketed his invite, "I wanted to ask if you were alright? You looked distracted during the test."

"You could say that, but I think I did fine… even if I didn't finish," Lincoln scratched his head. He did have two other things on his mind, in which case were Lori and Lynn. He had to decide who to give the second guardian star to. Whichever one he picked would be burdened with the stress of keeping the world safe, that was the main worry and hesitation on his mind.

"I need to go find Lynn," Lincoln told Clyde, "She wanted to talk with me personally. I'll see you at lunch."

"Alright, see ya later," Clyde nodded, before heading the other way with a bright smile. Lincoln was off to find his older sister. He felt bad for having to be so rude to her the other day, but he had to do it if he were to quickly locate Perfan without getting bombarded by perfume-affected sisters. Lincoln presumed no one remembered that day, either.

"Hm? …Looks like a trap…" Lincoln muttered. Midway to the gym, he saw a small thin wire set up to trip whoever passed it. He could see the trap itself with his own naked eye. He reached forward with his gauntlet, making the claws pop out for a moment.

"Snip!" Lincoln cut the tripwire, watching one of the split pieces go zipping the opposite way, where he watched the janitor closet swing up, and the mop bucket slide out, tumbling down the nearby flight of steps before falling over, its contents spilling onto the floor. Lincoln retracted his gauntlet claw now that the trap was disarmed.

"Got'cha! …Uh?" Ronnie Anne appeared after coming out from hiding around the corner. Lincoln stood there, having not fallen for her prank, or trap, whatever she saw it as. Lincoln's black eye was a lot better now, at most that the injury looked more induced by lack of sleep.

"…are you trying to talk to me about our relationship or something? These are really getting better compared to the spit balls," Lincoln offered. This was how their relationship started, by her bullying him to show her affection. So it made sense to him that she would do the same thing when trying to communicate.

"This isn't some foreplay. We're never getting back together. I'm just doing what I do, and that's bully."

"Well this is the worst you've tried to do to me lately… If you want to talk, come find me," Lincoln continued past without a care. The Santiago girl wondered why he was so happy, especially after that.

"Lynn? Are ya here? The coach said you were in here," Lincoln called out while peeking through one of the rooms connected to the gym, which housed small workout accessories and weights for anyone to train their muscles better or simply work out whenever desired.

"Wow… she looks upset," Lincoln thought after he found her. Lynn had not heard or seen him at the moment. She had a headset on, listening to music while bench pressing a weight. Just then, Lincoln noticed that she began to lose her strength, the weight threatening to fall onto her.

"Lynn!" he bolted over, grabbing the bar and helping her get the weight back up and onto the rack.

"Lincoln?" she looked surprised to see her brother, sitting up panting. Thankful he helped her there.

"Are you alright?" Lincoln asked, handing Lynn her nearby bottle of water, watching her drink from it while throwing the headset into her bag.

"I skipped class to exercise. So what?" she replied half-heartedly. Her only brother was concerned since skipping class was abnormal for her, he hoped she was not slipping back into her old habit of prioritizing fitness over getting good grades.

"Lynn, is something wrong? You need to eat lunch, at least…" Lincoln asked, but she ignored him from there. He guessed that he was not going to get the chance to talk to her about the guardian project's second guardian suit being complete, and how he wanted her to have it.

"I forgot you wanted to talk with me personally… Sorry, this has taken this long, so… what's on your mind?" he requested, thinking now was as good a time as any since he doubted anyone else would be using the training room for a while.

"I already told you, and you didn't care. You said I was just brainwashed… Why bother when you have two others that I know you're closer with?" Lynn responded. Lincoln raised an eyebrow, not sure what she meant until he realized.

"Wait… You remember that night? Lynn, I didn't say that as an insult… this perfume brainwash mumbo-jumbo was really happening! I love everyone, but you know they weren't acting normal…! Oh jeez… is that why you fought with Leni?" Lincoln spoke, coming to the slow eerie realization that Lynn was never affected by the lover perfume, perhaps because her heart already was desiring for him.

"…now I see what the real issue here is," he felt his brain sparking in an attempt to short circuit at all he was processing. He swore he was going to lose his mind at this rate, but the teenager tried to look at this positively.

"Lynn, I didn't mean to hurt you… Please, you shouldn't be ashamed of this, just because of me being an idiot," Lincoln requested. Lynn sighed, unable to stay silent anymore due to that look of regret on his face. Her brother was not the type to fake interest just to make someone feel better, his face lately looked like it only radiated with reassurance it was an odd change but one a lot were glad to welcome.

"Lincoln, I've had feelings for you for a long time. I don't know why or how I got them, I just know that they aren't normal… I tried to ignore it, but after a year, they said I should come out to you about it…"

"Wait…" Lincoln stopped her for a split second, "Who's they?"

"Uh… Lucy, mainly… but Lisa, Lana, Luan and Lori told me I should talk to you about it," Lynn answered. Lincoln wondered how everyone in his family not only knew about these secret feelings, but why no one told him, curious about how each of them reacted at first.

"Oh, crud… so that's what Lisa meant the other day," Lincoln realized. Lisa had tried to tell him about her feelings a few days ago. He never realized how slow he was until now. Ronnie Anne was the one to advance their relationship back when they had one, so he guessed maybe it was a lack of experience in recognizing someone else having feelings for him.

"Uh… wow… that's a lot," Lincoln rubbed his head, trying to take that all in.

"I'm sorry, I… I look stupid, I know and it's pathetic that I was jealous of Leni and Luna," Lynn apologetically spoke. Lincoln had a calm train of thought for this. He was going to handle things positively like he always did now, considering the world was faced with a crisis.

"Hey, Lynn, don't worry… you don't look stupid for confessing. I doubt you'd have fake love for me after a year, if you really have waited that long. I'm amazed you didn't explode," Lincoln joked, gaining a weak laugh from her. He rummaged around his pocket and pulled out the white and black star, going down on one knee in front of her.

"I guess we both have big things to ask of each other… I need help with the danger the world's facing right now… But whether you say yes or no, I'll give this relationship a chance," Lincoln decided that Lynn was the better option out of her and Lori. She could perhaps do flips around him if she wanted to, she had a lot more fighting experience and training as well.

"You… you'll what?"

"I said I'll give this relationship a chance. Your feelings are real, after all. I wouldn't be a good person if I disregarded it entirely," Lincoln smiled. Frankly, with the world facing grave danger because of the Xeran, he was going to treat every day happily.

"Lincoln… Thank you!" Lynn wrapped her arms around his neck. Lincoln smiled, glad see her happy. Once their embrace ended, he let her take the white and black star.

"I don't know what you mean by help with the danger the worlds facing… But if I can help, I'll do what I can," Lynn declared, gripping it tightly. The star began to draw a black essence from her arm changing its color to a nightshade of color. Lincoln smirked, guessing that was a good sign of her determination, since it happened to his star the day he decided to stand against the Xeran.

"Thanks a lot, Lynn… I love you," Lincoln's smile only brightened while he looked to his guardian gauntlet, feeling a lot better to know she was going to help him out. He presented his curved red star to his brand new girlfriend. They glowed brightly with their respective colors, as if to signify a brighter future.

"I love you too, Lincoln," Lynn never expected this, but she was more than glad to finally say those words and get everything off her chest.

A few feet away from them, Ronnie Anne spied on them through the door, but she could not really hear much. Irritated, she backed away and stepped beside the door, hiding behind it when it opened.

"Come on. Let's get lunch," Lincoln said, as he and Lynn left the training room, holding hands. They still had some time before lunch ended, so they could hopefully get something to eat before they missed out.

"Sounds good…" his sporty sibling nodded, "But you have a lot to tell me."

Ronnie Anne held a photograph in her hand, that she had just secretly taken of the two holding hands, right when she watched them leave. She went off her own way after pocketing it.


	18. Mine Trouble

Teronzata came upon a construction site outside of town a new tunnel was being worked on for train tracks to be laid. It would help conductors be able to go an alternative route in the case of traffic accidents obscuring the rails, which sadly was a common occurrence for the nearby set of tracks. Sometimes punks intentionally stole cars and left them on the tracks to cause trouble.

"My… this is quite the impressive operation… This should be the place that odd metal shall be beneath. Soon, my apprentice can begin training," Teronzata said, noticing a toolbox lying on the ground. He picked up an electric drill lying beside it.

"Hmm… Now how does this work?" The humanoid plant tilted his head, opening the part where the battery pack went, watching it fall out and break on the ground. The swordsman shrugged and pulled out the majesty's heart, the dark purple essence inside it spinning around violently.

"Hey what are you doing?" A worker noticed the Xeran general putting the essence sphere into the drill before closing it.

"Do not be afraid, for you see, I am the greatest swordsman in existence! Consider yourself lucky that I decided to grace your tool with my need for aid!" Teronzata said. The drill began to change shape, growing and transforming into a giant, red machine, with two drills on each arm in place of hands.

"Holy cow! I-it's a robot!" the worker fell back in terror, before suddenly getting slashed across the chest by Teronzata's sword that knocked him out. Teronzata held his hand out and began to drain the essence from the man's corpse.

"Xerill! Let's get to work. I need some of that special alloy buried deep underground…" Teronzata declared, "But first, we must make sure that none of these fools get in the way of the greatest swordsman in the world!"

"Anything for you, sir," Xerill nodded, clashing its pointy drills together as they began to spin. They then made their approach to the cave.

"…and that is pretty much what started this all," Lincoln and Lynn were sitting at a pizzeria after school let out, since they did not have much time to talk at lunch as they had spent most of their time at the gym. Lincoln had just finished explaining what had caused him and Lisa to wind up in the scuffle involving the Guardian Project.

"Things would be a lot worse if you two hadn't stepped in," Lynn said while beginning to realize this. She was glad to know she could be of help to her boyfriend. She just resumed eating her pepperoni pizza, taking every last overwhelming detail into her head.

"Honestly, it'd have been a million times better if the professionals got it… But we really couldn't waste time on them," Lincoln stated, rubbing his head tiredly. He was glad to just see her happy and willing to help.

"That explains why you started taking karate out of nowhere. I figured you were being bullied," the sporty sister claimed. Her new boyfriend could not help but chuckle a little. Ronnie Anne was kind of bullying him, but she refused to forgive him, so Lincoln decided to move on since she would not even let him talk to her for even a minute.

"You're kinda right about that. I signed up for the defensive courses… The teacher says I'm really good at taking a beating," Lincoln admitted, unable to tell if that was good or not, but was going to take it as a positive.

"Wuh?" Lincoln then heard his cellphone ringing, and answered, "Hello?"

"Hello Lincoln. I have regretful news. There might be a Xeran occurrence happening," Lisa responded. Lynn guessed this was not going to be anything easy.

"Oh… I just knew it would happen…! What's going on?" Lincoln requested, almost frustrated. He had to make sure they did not go rushing into some people doing abnormalities. He hated to imagine attacking innocent civilians instead of textoth.

"I have upgraded my laptop over these last few days to let me listen in to police radio…" Lisa elaborated, "Several calls have come from the overpass, near North Baring road, reporting that weird costumed men at the construction site are going in and out of a tunnel carrying metal. The tunnel is meant to be hollowed out for a new set of train tracks. Police were sent away by the construction manager, apparently."

"Two suspicious things at once? Alright, we'll check it out… erm… I got Lynn to agree, but… heh… I forgot to get her guardian weapon…" Lincoln confessed nervously. Without the guardian weapon of her own, his girlfriend would not be able to morph. He could hear the child prodigy take in irritated deep breaths.

"I have a method to get it to you, but you'll have to pick them up along the way. I'll text you the location… extend my thanks to Lynn for aiding us in this," Lisa reassured she had a way to cover this mistake, and then she hung up. The teenage couple got up, leaving their money on the table.

"Guardian gear, huh? Like your gauntlet?" Lynn asked, wondering if she was going to get an awesome looking gauntlet like that.

"Honestly, I don't know what Lisa designed for your guardian weapon… I just know I forgot to take it with me," Lincoln stated. He was happy with his clawed shield gauntlet. His girlfriend was slowly beginning to realize that she will wind up in a guardian outfit, too, but she tried to brush that thought away.

"Well… I hope it's easy to carry if I'm going to have to keep it on me at all times," Lynn said, aware that if they were going to be heroes, they could not neglect leaving the very items that let them become guardians at home.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine… We'd better hurry and get it though. I think I know how she's going to deliver it," Lincoln insisted, and he and his girlfriend ran off ahead. They really could not be wasting time if the Xeran were up to anything.

After half an hour, the two guardians arrived to the location that Lisa had texted them to go. They looked around, and so far it just looked like an empty parking lot that was in desperate need of maintenance.

"Yep… I was right," Lincoln looked up. The two could see a small drone with a box hooked onto the bottom of it flying down toward them, one of Lisa's many toys. She had increased the range of the drone as a small project out of boredom.

"Hey, a note," Lynn saw a small piece of paper taped onto the side of the box, and took it from the drone.

"Please be careful…" she read it out for her and Lincoln. Though it made her feel unsettled, she was going to try and remain as confident as her new boyfriend on matters.

"Huh… it looks like gloves and shoes…" Lynn commented upon opening the box, the drone having flown away already. Her brother was confused, as he saw the leathery fingerless gloves and matching black shoes, both looking to be the kinds she would wear in football.

"Is that a vest?" Lincoln pulled out a weird vest in the bottom of the box, with a small opening on the front. The vest looked thin, yet felt tough. He guessed this was the Gruynithil's material.

"Wow… these are my weapons? I feel like I got stiffed on this particular set of monster opposing gear," Lynn pouted. Her boyfriend understood her irritation while watching her slide the vest on.

"Sorry… what we use to make the suits was really low… Don't worry, I'm sure it's awesome," Lincoln claimed while helping her get the boots on. For some reason, they did not have laces, but a complicated set of straps to make sure they could not fall off easily.

"Well… at least I can pretend this is a coat," Lynn saw the bright side of this. The vest did greatly resemble a coat. After she slipped on the gloves, she closed the opening on the front of it, doubting it was meant to remain open.

"Alright, I think that's everything. Let's get going," Lincoln gave a thumbs up.

"Alright," Lynn nodded, now that she had her guardian weapon. She presumed she was about as ready as he was. The two summed the fastest route they could to reach the construction site.

Things at the construction site were in a state of confusion. The twelve workers who once inhabited the site were now nowhere to be seen, beyond one walking back and forth in an odd pattern like a security guard would.

"My… talk about a beautiful sight…" Teronzata hummed while sitting in the cave, the darkness keeping him hidden in the shadow. A textoth came up, carrying an odd metal from the cavern.

"With this, my apprentice will be able to get everything they need to begin training to become the second best swordsman in the world! Give or take a few dimensions," Teronzata muttered, excited to get his apprentice everything required to begin training. There was a small open portal letting the textoth drop the material into it.

"What is going on?" Lynn questioned, looking at the operation before them. She was hiding behind a bulldozer. Her slightly younger brother was more confused than her. The Xeran always had some kind of plan in mind, but this one was not easy to see through.

"Whatever it is, I think they aren't after essence this time," Lincoln declared. If the Xeran were after essence, they would have long since been gone from this small area. They could have gone for a populated area in town to steal essence, but instead, they were getting strange material from this cave.

"Shouldn't we save that guy? They're taking this stuff from behind his back," Lynn pointed out the man who was wandering around like a guard, presuming him to be the construction manager.

"No, Lynn, there's something off about that guy. If there's one thing I've learnt, Lynn, it's that monsters can disguise as people… The same might go for the textoth," Lincoln informed his love, putting a hand on her shoulder. He did not even know everything yet, and he knew they both had to learn. He waited for the wandering man to get near.

"Now!" he whispered, their hands reaching out, grabbing the man by his ankles and forcing him to the dirt ground, dragging him behind the construction equipment they had hidden behind.

"Oh, yeah… he's a monster alright," Lynn pointed out. One close look at the man's face and it was enough of a giveaway. While the construction worker looked fine from afar, he had an uneven face and jagged, abnormal teeth, and his eyes were two different colors at that.

"Gurk!" Lincoln felt the textoth's hands around his throat, the monster having given up its disguise rather quickly. Lynn was stunned, but she rose up her leg and kicked the Xeran cannon fodder in the face, knocking it off her boyfriend.

"Whew… thanks Lynn," Lincoln thanked her, making the claw pop out of his gauntlet before he stabbed the textoth in the mask, cracking it and causing it to begin deteriorating into dust. He let his clawed gauntlet turn to normal right afterward.

"Well, are you ready for the real show?" Lincoln asked.

"Yup!" his sister nodded, "I know this was just the easy part…"

"Hmm… I wonder if this material would be good for my blade… even though it is the greatest sword in the world, hand-chosen by me, to lead my destiny to slice down all opponents in my path!" Teronzata monologued to himself as another textoth dropped more of the alloy down the portal. The costumed skeletal soldier looked very annoyed to be listening to the majesty's general.

"Hey! Whatever coward's in those shadows, step out here now!" Lynn called out to grab his attention, she and her boyfriend stepping out of hiding and standing outside.

"Hark? Did someone issue a challenge?! I, the great swordsman, am inclined to accept!" the monster's voice sounded to the two Louds, and they saw him in the black cloak, suit and top hat. The two were surprised to see how fast he came out without any cowardly tactics.

"I take it you're one of the majesty's generals?" Lincoln guessed, mainly because from what he could tell, Xeran elite monsters were made from inanimate objects, whilst the majesty's generals seemed like normal creatures brought to life with a volume of essence.

"Yes… I am Teronzata, the majesty's best swordsman in the entire universe!" Teronzata began to annoy the two already, "Hang on… Why are there two children now? …oh, no matter… it's not that it shall be a problem for me to best you!"

"I'm going to clobber him," Lynn declared. She hated this monster by just looking at him. The constant talking was hurting her ears already. They watched as Teronzata ran his fingers along his blade. Some of the words carved into his sword began to glow orange, making the blade glow the same.

"Sadly, I need time, so let's make this a fair fight… you bring two…" the plant swordsman slashed the air multiple times, creating multiple tears in the air of smaller portals. He made one more vertical slash, and a large portal formed from them, and vast numbers of textoth began to appear through it.

"…and I'll bring twenty!" Teronzata laughed as the skeleton monsters began to rip their jagged weapons from their bodies. Lynn cringed terribly at the sight of this. Lincoln knew it would take a long time to get used to seeing that, as he hadn't either yet.

"He's STILL talking…" Lynn's eye twitched. Teronzata was still giving a long monologue like they had inquired about his long history. They never even asked more than one thing about him, nor did they care to bother.

"Well, at least it means he won't attack us yet…" Lincoln sighed, when he noticed the textoth beginning to charge for them, "Get ready! Here they come!"


	19. The Second Guardian

**Authors Note: I wanted to say thanks to Mew Shadowfang for always helping point out typographical errors, or the likes. I hope you all are liking this story!**

Lincoln and Lynn found themselves in the midst of a mob of textoth. The construction site had become a battleground. Teronzata watched the battle from nearby, making sure that the alloy being stolen from the cavern was safely escorted to the portal.

"Okay… I've never fought more than ten before, so this is something I'm not used to," Lincoln informed his sister while ducking under one of the jagged scimitars swung his way, uppercutting the skeleton monster in the face afterward, knocking it back. He grabbed its dropped sword and sliced two more away, watching the sparks and smoke erupt from them.

"I haven't fought more than five classmates at once. This is what my teachers would call a test," Lynn grinned. She missed kickboxing and karate practice, but sadly, after she reached black belt in both, all she could do was train herself and keep practicing the fundamentals. There was not much more that could be learned according to her former teachers.

Lynn saw four of the textoth charge at her from all sides. She stood there and waited until they got close and quickly landed a full roundhouse kick, hitting each one's jagged blade, making them fumble and stop their charge. Lynn dug her knee into one of the textoth's faces, making them fall back. She grabbed its jagged scimitar and slashed at it, and then threw the weapon to impale another textoth, hearing its pained screech as it fell.

"Come on!" she laughed, delivering a low sweep kick to knock another textoth off their feet and onto the ground. She then jumped on the skeletal soldier and elbow dropped it. She heard something crack on that attack.

"Wow…" Lincoln was impressed. She could hold her own in battle, whether or not outnumbered. Just then, he gasped when he was cut on the side by one of the textoth.

"Cheap shot!" Lincoln caught another two swords with his guardian gauntlet, blocking the attack while holding his side in pain. He had gotten momentarily caught up watching his sporty sister trashing the enemy like they were schoolyard bullies.

"My… this is actually an impressive show! It reminds me of my first grand war victory in Dimension X5 when…" Teronzata watched joyfully while continuing to narrate his life story. To the two star-crossed siblings, he was the most annoying background noise in existence.

"At least these gloves are pretty tough," Lynn said. The gloves had caught multiple blade hits for her without as much as a tear, keeping her hands safe. Another two textoth attacked, and she was only able to stop the swing of one, kicking its sword out of their grip.

"Ow!" she felt a sharp pain across the back, her vest catching it but sparking from the hit. She picked up the sword off the ground, spinning around and slashing three textoth across the chest, sparks and smoke violently erupting from them.

Lynn could tell that Lincoln was handling the battle decently on his own, thankfully. She was then kicked through a pile of barrels, denting a few when she crashed through them. She lay flat on her back on top of one, groaning. Multiple textoth approaching her.

"Surprise!" Lynn grabbed a textoth by the waist when it approached her, suplexing the skeletal enemy headfirst into the hard ground, and then throwing it at two more textoth knocking them over like pins.

"Incoming!" Lincoln tried to warn his girlfriend as he crashed into her, having been thrown by a textoth that he was fighting.

"Lincoln! Are you okay?!" Lynn worriedly asked, hearing him cough.

"Yeah just got jumped by surprise," Lincoln pointed from where he was thrown. A lot more textoth had come to take the place of their fallen comrades.

"There's more?!" Lynn gawked.

"That Teron plant guy had a bunch hiding in the cave come out and attack us… I think it's time we get into guardian mode. Just do what comes naturally," the Loud brother insisted while they helped each other up. Lynn had significantly startled the enemy long enough to give them this chance with her violent attacks.

"I'll follow your lead," she pulled out her black star while he drew out his red star. The two stars seemed to shimmer in the light when the sun's rays hit them. If Teronzata was going to keep summoning goons, they were going to even the playing field.

The two both yelled out together. "Guardian mode! Engage!"

Lincoln inserted the red star into the back of his gauntlet, hearing it lock and close. Lynn put her black star into the opening on her vest, the opening closing as it locked in.

"Here we go!" Lincoln's gauntlet began spraying fire. He spun around before spiking it into the ground, watching the flames morph into his guardian suit.

"This is going to hurt," Lynn watched as her gloves, her boots, and then her vest began to glow. She did what her body instinctively told her to do she jumped up stomping on the ground and slamming both fists into it, cracking the earth beneath her, gravel sent flying around her.

"Oh my! What is this?" Teronzata gasped as he witnessed Lynn's body get covered in a tight black outfit, yellow lines running from the arms and legs in a spiral pattern, wrapping around her limbs to the center of her neck. A special belt appeared around her waist, and so did more rugged shoulder pads.

"Lock in!" Their helmets appeared on their heads, both grabbing the fronts and backs of them until with a clunk, they were secured. Lynn's had a thicker design to it, and her whole face was exposed with the visor still raised. The textoth looked terrified by her new appearance, seeing the silver stripes on her helmet glow black while her brothers glowed red.

"Whoa…" Lincoln stared, "You look awesome, Lynn!"

"Yeah… it feels like football gear," Lynn stretched, hating how tight this outfit felt, but guessed that was expected. Her fingerless gloves were normal now and covering her hands. The majesty's general stared in surprise, unable to believe what stood before him.

"Yes. The suit had to be modified alternatively so it could be able to withstand as much damage as Lincoln's," Lisa spoke up.

"Lisa?" Lynn was caught by surprise. She had a communicator in her helmet as well, but that did not surprise her as much as Lisa contacting her. Lincoln presumed that Lisa would now be able to view from both their visions when the visors were raised.

"There are two?! How can I, the greatest swordsman in the world, be expected to fight in such unfair conditions?" Teronzata declared with a hand on his head.

"Because fifty versus two is fair…" Lynn sarcastically replied

"Uh… hang on. We haven't introduced ourselves," Lincoln whispered to her. Good thing their helmets would allow them to communicate easier, as it would be hard to hear otherwise.

"Oh, uh… right… sorry," she let her boyfriend continue. They both tapped the sides of their helmets, the visors emerging to cover their faces.

"Guardian Red! Protector of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln struck his pose, crossing his arms.

"Guardian Black! Protector of the essence that gives strength to all life!" Lynn bashed her fists together, getting into the stance of a boxing wrestler for her pose. After their introductions, two explosions erupted behind them of both black and red colors.

"I feel ridiculous now…" Guardian Black coughed.

"You'll get used to it," Guardian Red reassured, patting her shoulder. He had his clawed gauntlet ready

"Dual mode engage!" Lincoln got his second pair of claws ready, and then went right for the textoth horde.

"I'm unlocking your guardian weapon, Lynn. Since we ran out of materials, I heavily modified one of my older invention designs to use with your weapons," Lisa apologized. Lynn wondered what her younger sister meant until she looked down.

"Whoa!" Lynn saw a weird energy grid around her feet. Dark hexagons formed into an outer layer of boots. She grinned, balling her hands into fists, watching them begin to cover her whole arm with the layer of energy like they had formed into giant knuckles.

"I hope they're to your liking," Lisa asked for their opinion.

"I love them, Lisa… Time to test them out," Lynn grinned. She averted her attention back to the battle. Lincoln was already trouble, having every active member of the horde of textoth upon him in a mob taking swings at him. Sparks and smoke exploded off his suit from each hit, Lincoln had ran in too prematurely before his partner was ready even.

"Guardian Knuckle!" Guardian Black dove to the center, making them step back slightly. She spun around, delivering a devastating right hook into one of the skeletal soldier's chest hard enough to send it crashing into the ones behind it, knocking them all over.

"Wow… and I thought you were already scary," Lincoln stated, watching her punch and kick textoth until they were forced to give them space. Every hit was like a shock wave of vamped up power that rattled the monsters to their core.

"It is of no wonder, that Zeggfor had issue with just one child…" Teronzata stated as he witnessed the battle. Lincoln was running around and cutting any textoth to ribbons while Lynn made sure they were scattered out and unable to regroup, sometimes crushing their body parts with her attacks, "But no matter. As the greatest swordsman in existence, I must take the challenge given, now that my men are being bested… and make them acknowledge my incredible talent!"

"Textoth! That's enough! You've lost too much essence! Now I must face the majesty's disappointing gaze! Go complete the material gathering from the pit we've made of that cavern!" the swordsman pointed to the cave. The last fifteen or so textoth were more than happy to flee the battle, terrified.

"Finally! I've been waiting to strangle you for the last hour!" Lynn pointed one of her guardian knuckles at the majesty's general.

"You can't strangle a plant… or are the laws of nature in this dimension drastically different than the one I hail from?" Teronzata scratched his head with his sword carelessly.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he's a salad by the time we're done," Lincoln slashed his claws against one another to sharpen them, sending off a few sparks to intimidate the enemy. The two guardians began to charge straight for him. The self proclaimed sword master approached slowly.

"En garde!" Teronzata swung his sword. Lynn blocked the attack with her guardian knuckles, thankful that they acted like a weak shield on top of being hard hitting weapons. Lincoln hopped up, leaping off Lynn's shoulder and diving straight for the plant monster.

"Take this!" Lincoln slashed, feeling his gauntlet claws cut through the plant monster. He fell onto the ground behind him and rolled a little, having gone overboard with that attack.

"Good work!" Lynn tried to give a thumbs up sadly her weapons were only able to remain in fist mode, so she just fist pumped the air instead. There stood Teronzata, whose head was severed from his body and lay on the ground, beginning to disintegrate in the sun.

"I wish it was that easy… Sadly all these monsters have tricks," Lincoln warned, and on cue, vines appeared from inside the stump where the monsters head once was, forming into a brand new cranium. The two guardians jumped back in surprise as he regenerated.

"Admirable move! Ah, how I remember the assassins of Deian doing the same to me… Sadly, the best swordsman alive is able to regenerate his head from decapitation!" Teronzata laughed, before using his sword to pick his hat up off the ground and toss it onto his head.

"Lincoln, try using your finisher," Lisa recommended, impressed by the two's cooperation thus far. They were synchronized very well.

"The finish, got it!" the teenage boy understood thinking fire was perfect to take out the majesty's general. He made his new girlfriend step back, and he aimed both sets of claws, firing all six of the sharp claws. He watched them dart toward the enemy. Teronzata ran his fingers along his sword, and some of the words began glowing light blue, his sword radiating the same color.

"Ha-tah!" Teronzata swung twice, knocking the first set of claw blades into the air. His second attack knocked the others into the ground. He had reacted with lightning speed.

"Hah! Is that all?"

"Nope! Here's the topper," Lincoln aimed his armored gauntlet toward the sword master, the gauntlet beginning to blaze with flames as his red essence began to pour into his arm. Lynn began to make a quick movement during the distraction, having an idea.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst! Engage!" Lincoln got knocked back as he fired, his red star shooting out like a ball of fire, spinning right toward the target. Teronzata hit it with his sword. Making it fly overhead behind him.

"Gaahahahahah! Nice try, but you need to do a lot more than cheap tricks to hurt me," Teronzata hummed. Lincoln however noticed Lynn behind the enemy, in a position to where his star was going. He watched her jump high in the air.

"Spike!" Lynn rose up both fists and pounded the flaming star, right back toward Teronzata at full speed, like a flaming meteor. He turned around confusedly when it collided with the ground in front of him, and then came a large explosion of fire that sent him flying into a bulldozer headfirst with a loud clang as he fell.

"Gah! Oh, my legs! My arms! I can't feel anything, but everything hurts so much!" Teronzata cried with small flames all over his body, rolling around in an attempt to extinguish them. Lincoln went over to Lynn, both of them morphing out of their guardian forms. He picked up his curve-tipped star, seeing his girlfriend's star pop out of her vest before she closed the opening back.

"That was awesome, Lynn!" Lincoln laughed, "I thought volleyball was your least favorite sport."

"Yeah, but when you can't dunk, you spike," Lynn fist bumped her brotherly boyfriend. They were surprised to see Teronzata stand up, holding his heavily burnt legs in pain.

"You think you've won, just because you singed me?! Never! For you see, I am Teronzata! The greatest swordsman of the majest-ee!" he gasped in shock when Lincoln and Lynn threw a few rocks which bounced off his burnt leg, nearly making him fall over again. Anything they could do to seal his mouth closed, apparently his burn injuries were extremely sensitive.

"Shut up already!" Lynn yelled at the face of the general. Then she turned to Lincoln, "Can we do that finisher again?!"

"Sorry. I'm spent," Lincoln apologized to his girlfriend. That move took a lot of essence. Doing it twice was out of the question unless he wanted to hurt himself. He wondered how he was able to supply so much essence into his guardian mode with no consequences. He hoped Lynn would be alright with hers. He made a mental note to discuss it with Lisa later.

"No matter… I got what I need. Mark my words, next time we meet, you shall not just be greeted by me, but my new apprentice! You guardians shall not best me!" Teronzata sliced open a portal in the ground and hopped into it, the portal closing instantly after him.

"Do you hear that?" Lynn asked her boyfriend, both pretending to try to listen for something.

"Yeah… Peace and quiet," Lincoln hummed, but they remembered to investigate what the Xeran had been doing here. Upon approaching the cave, they could only see a long dark tunnel that went deep into the earth.

"Is anyone there?" Lincoln called out as loud as he could, his voice echoing, but there was no response.

"I think they already got what they were after, Linc…" Lynn stated the disappointing reality that they were perhaps too late.

"They're long gone by now."

"We scared off Teronzata. You got to morph for the first time and you did awesome while making sure nobody got hurt… I'll call it a success," Lincoln felt her wrap her arms around him. That constant happy attitude he had now made her heart feel relaxed, despite the new bruises on their bodies and faces. She was happy to exchange her happiness with him.

"Oh right! There were guys locked away over there," Lynn remembered that the construction workers had been locked away in the manager's office, and went on her way to free them.

Lincoln plopped onto the ground and he looked at the dark tunnel.

"I wish we could relax... But he had to have a monster for this, I hope it doesn't do too much damage. Wherever it is."


	20. Unforgiven?

**Authors note: Let me just say, thank you all again for the support. This fics at 10,000 views, and I am glad you are enjoying it. Or at least I Hope you are, take care and enjoy!**

Lincoln and Lynn were back home and sitting in the younger kids' room. Lisa was showing them a very tiny ore of the red Gruynithil. It was all they had left of the metal from Vernan's personal supply, that they had taken from his home along with all his tools.

"I knew what Teronzata was taking looked really familiar," Lincoln nodded. That was what they had seen the Xeran forces taking from the cave they had mined out.

"I knew we should have just run past those textoth," Lynn grumbled, feeling stupid for being distracted by the small fry. The tunnel that had been dug by the apparent drilling creature, that they had not seen yet, went deep into the earth, probably two thousand feet at most, according to Lisa.

"I would not be regretful. You did what you could. Allow me to formally welcome you onboard the Guardian Project program, Lynn… and congratulations on your recently formed relationship," Lisa congratulated them. The star crossed couple were trying to hide it, but the child prodigy was great at reading people.

"Th-thanks… err… it's nothing official yet," Lynn replied, thankful to be Guardian Black. She just never knew that superheroes could exist like this, but then she could guess that was why Lincoln was so happy lately. Playing hero and saving lives was just what he dreamed of doing while growing up.

"I didn't know you had a shy side, Lynn," Lincoln chuckled, only to be retorted by a tackle to the ground by his girlfriend.

"Let me show you my lucha libre side, then!" Lynn grinned.

"No, wait! Please! Help!" the lone Loud boy cried for mercy. Lisa could only smile. Whatever they did or whoever they loved, that was their business. All their other siblings thought similarly since all of them beyond their parents knew about it, and Lily was too young to understand.

"You two enjoy this time together… you fought for it hard, especially since we can presume that there is a monster roaming free," Lisa thought to herself while looking at Lynn wrestling while Lincoln tried desperately defending himself.

"If only I knew what the Xeran wanted Gruynithil for…" Lisa rubbed her head, feeling more of a wave of depression overwhelming her than anything. Whenever her mind could not piece together something, it bothered her a lot, but the child prodigy hid it well.

"Kids! Dinners ready!" their father's voice echoed out from downstairs, able to pierce any noise in the Loud house, Lincoln sighed in relief when his sporty sibling got off him.

"Boy, they aren't going to be happy to hear I botched a test again…" Lincoln groaned, recalling how he had forgotten to answer the last three questions on today's test. He would find out tomorrow how he did on it in general, but he wondered if he should tell them before or after the results.

"Are you two coming?" Lynn asked since both of them were seemingly distracted with their thoughts, her boyfriend lying on the floor and their sister staring blankly at the small ore of Gruynithil. Lynn was happy with the vest gloves and boots so far, she planned on wearing them as often as plausible like Lincoln did with his gauntlet.

"You go on ahead. I need to go apologize to Lori," Lincoln sighed, recalling how he had to make the oldest Loud forgive him for how he had accidentally accused her of not loving him. She was probably still hurt from it, considering he had not seen her since they had been home.

"I'll come. I haven't consumed anything in fifteen hours," Lisa nodded, leaving with their sporty sister now that the meeting was over. Their brother got off the floor, beginning to head down the hall where his other sisters were heading for downstairs already, but he didn't see Lori.

"Oh, Leni, is Lori ok?" Lincoln caught Leni leaving the room that she and Lori shared. They usually got along fine, but fights were very common, just not big or out of proportion.

"Not really… she's acting very weird to me," Leni replied. Already Lincoln was concerned.

"What do you mean?" he wondered. Perhaps simply talking to Bobby was not enough to keep her cheered up. Leni pointed to her earlobes where now two tiny blue dolphin earrings were dangling from.

"I asked if I could borrow her favorite earrings for my date tomorrow, but she gave them to me! I'm so happy!" Leni answered. It indeed sounded weird to her only brother. Lori was not the type to give things away for no reason. Lincoln knew those earrings especially were on that list, of things to not be given away. They were important since they were their mother's before they were given to Lori.

"That really is strange… Tell the others I'll be down for dinner in a bit," Lincoln said. His second oldest sister nodded in agreement, but was happy nonetheless, and she continued on her way with a smile.

"Lori?" Lincoln knocked on the closed door to the oldest sibling's rooms. He heard a weird hissing noise that was an all too recognizable vocal sound the family cat made. There was a crack wide opening in the door. He opened it and stepped in.

"Cliff? What are you doing?" Lincoln questioned upon entering the room. Cliff, the tall black cat that the family had, was in the center of the room, his hair standing on end as he hissed at Lori who was lying in her bed, texting away like she normally did.

"Whoa!" he jumped slightly when the cat darted between his legs and out into the hall. Cliff never acted like that before. He did not have much interaction with the family since he was a stray street cat they adopted, but he never was directly hostile with any of them.

"Uh… sorry for barging in. Are you okay Lori? Did you step on his tail or something?" Lincoln approached, noticing that her cellphone had died in her hand from lack of battery power.

"What do you want, Lincoln?" Lori murmured. Lincoln wondered how long she had been lying in bed. She hadn't done a thing to the cat for one. He remembered the essence sphere Bobby had given his oldest sister, but when he looked around, it was not anywhere to be seen.

"I wanted to come apologize," Lincoln claimed straight forwardly. He blinked for half a second and he swore he saw some static in her hand as the cellphone came back to life, with the battery quickly recharging without the charger.

"For what?" Lori replied, not looking at him. He sighed, thinking she was tired, but knew not answering that would make his apology hollow.

"For saying that you don't love me. I didn't mean it that way. I just have been having a lot of things on my mind… Everyone was trying to drown me with love that day," Lincoln gave the excuse that it came off like that day everyone wanted to smother him alive, having forgotten the fact that they probably would have when given the chance. Lori immediately went back to texting.

"Uh… did she just ignore me?" Lincoln mentally asked himself. He looked at the mirror behind her to see her phone screen. She was not even texting anybody. She was just tapping away randomly on the screen.

"Lori, please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a huge jerk," her brother repeated. He assumed that Lori was trying to fake being distracted when she probably had a dozen texts from Bobby sent to her in these last few minutes alone since he entered the room.

"Do you want to come to dinner?" Lincoln offered. She exhaled angrily and threw her phone carelessly across the room, hearing it bounce off the wall onto Leni's bed, now having a small dent in it. She then stood up.

"Come on, please talk to me," he begged while rubbing his shield gauntlet anxiously, when his older sister picked him up by under his arms with no effort like she did when he was younger.

"Wh-whoa! I know you get strong when you're mad, but… am I going to get dunked in the laundry hamper again?" Lincoln questioned. It would not be the first time one of his sisters had done that, and he doubted nothing was stopping that from happening until he got bigger.

"No," Lori flatly mused.

"Are you mad with me?" he nervously requested.

"No," Lori repeated. Lincoln was confused. While being put back down, the atmosphere in the room evolved to confusingly tense. Lincoln could half expect to be thrown out the window sometime soon.

"Uhhhh… that's good. Come on, I think dad made chicken for-" a very hard slap went across his face that made his head jerk to the right, leaving a bruise on his cheek and him standing there in shock.

"I'm not mad at you, but I hate you," Lori was bent over to his height. Lincoln was still stunned from being hit with no warning. Lori never did that before to him, and especially not his face.

"Yo…whaaa?" Lincoln could only say from the initial stun, "You hate me…?"

"Yes…" Lori turned him around and slowly made him go out the door, "I hate every last fiber of your being. You do nothing but get in the way, sneak into my room touch things I tell you not to touch… half the time I wish you weren't born, so we wouldn't have had to change so much in our lives to make things more private because of the likes of you and your disgusting needs!"

"You've lost me… I'm sorry, but you're worried about nothing. I already know all that personal stuff and we both know privacy doesn't exist much in this house! I don't mess with anything in your room! Last time I did, you threatened to make me into a pretzel!" Lincoln retorted the best he could. This was an argument he did not expect to be in tonight. He barely gathered himself from that complaint that none of the girls could be as relaxed about their bodies because of him, and that he was a burden to everyone in the Loud house.

"I already told you, I'm sorry for saying you don't love me! I love you, Lori! I really mean it! Do you want me to give you a massage? Do your laundry? Your other chores? What?" Lincoln begged. He wondered if Bobby had upset her somehow, and she was just taking her anger out on him, as in using him as a substitute.

"You're giving me a headache, you little parasite… I don't want your grubby hands near me or anything I own… ever! Now get lost. I'm not hungry anyway," Lori repeated. If this verbal fight between them got any louder, the rest of the family might get involved, and that would not go well at all, considering half of the topics on the table for said fight.

"Lori, I'll do anything, please… I got this invite to an awesome club party, and I can bring someone with me. How does that sou-ow!" then came another harsh strong jab to his nose, and he fell flat onto the floor.

"I don't want to go to your stupid kiddy party. you're scum as far as I'm concerned. And let me say it again…" Lori leaned close to her crying brother's face, "I hate you, and I will hate you for as long as I have to put up with you, and your problems… I'm going out. You made this night too unbearable."

Lori wandered off to get downstairs with her spare keys to Vanzilla. Lincoln lay there, staring at the ceiling.

"Meow," Cliff chimed up while coming to him, hopping on the young boy's chest and lying down. Lincoln lay there with his mind almost destroyed, he couldn't even have a coherent thought. He did wonder if the cat was trying to comfort him, or use him as a personal pillow.

"Hey! Are you coming to have dinner Lincoln, or not?" Luna spoke up a few minutes later while climbing the stairs. She looked back and forth in the hall to find a sign of her younger sibling. Her eyes widened when she caught him lying in the middle of the hallway, crying and with a bloody nose.

"Lincoln!" the rock lover went straight over, brushing the cat off him. Cliff did not care, just lying in place and wanting to sleep longer.

"Bro, what happened?! Lincoln! Hey come on talk to me," she pleaded, wondering if he was in need of an ambulance. Only his choked sobs and him burying his face into her shirt, beginning to dampen it with his tears was the reply. For being a guardian, defending the world from evil, it was the stress of what Lori had done that finally broke him. Luna wanted to know where Lori was too, having not seen her at all.

"Where is he?! I've waited for so long! The greatest swordsman in the world should not have to wait for his apprentice! I summoned his presence an hour ago! I made the textoth work hard to complete this, too…" Teronzata rambled while sitting in the forest, where the party he had met Bobby at the other day was held prior, where now all that remained were hostile raccoons gathering the leftover trash.

"Hm? Oh, finally! My new greatest apprentice has arrived!" Teronzata saw the lights of a car pull up to his location. He had healed his injuries earlier with his regenerating abilities. The plant monster turned around and went straight over, hearing the van stop and then seeing a familiar person hop out.

"Ah! My fellow warrior, lusting for the blade! it is excellent to see you! Now then, I…" Teronzata caught himself when he realized that it was not Bobby. A blank-faced Lori stood before him instead. He recalled giving that essence sphere to Bobby, but not her, "Hmm… I, the greatest swordsman, do not recall you being this curvy...Or blonde."

Lori stared at Teronzata, not saying a word in retort. She presented the essence sphere that was spinning with dark purple energy. It was then that Teronzata started to identify what she could well be.

"…oh dear… you're the one he worshiped, aren't you?" the swordsman asked as he took the essence sphere.

"No matter! I shall teach you! You have my glorious essence within you! So then… follow me to the majesty's humble castle, and we shall finish the preparations," Teronzata cut open a portal, stepping aside to let Lori enter. She did not argue, like she was mind controlled.

"Ah… you guardians should fear me… for I have learnt a wisdomous trick; to fight fire with fire is stupid, but to fight guardians with even more guardians is pure genius! Hahahaha! Gaaahahahaha-" Teronzata laughed maniacally, until he felt a raccoon bite his leg, he shook it off fast. "Owch! Curse you, stupid, unadulterated creature of…!"

Teronzata cursed while he hobbled into the portal, and it closed behind him and Lori, both vanishing to the eldritch dimension.

"Bobby! Someone! Anyone! Help me!"


	21. The Third Guardian?

**Authors Note: let me apologize for this fic not being updated in the last few days, it will be on a daily update schedule once I finish the a brothers debt epilogue. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

"I am displeased… immensely!" the majesty growled while resting on his throne. Another guardian stood before him in a dark blue suit that looked very light and thin, with white gloves and boots, a white stripe going over the shoulder around her body, and the black helmet visor looking more rectangular.

"But your majesty! I, the greatest swordsman in the world, have brought us great aid! I thought you would be pleased," Teronzata argued. The dark blue guardian had a weird holster on her side that had a rectangular object showing from it, not a gun but a melee weapon.

"So to fight guardians… You made a guardian?" Mirayu tilted her head. Her mask displayed confusion at this time around.

"On top of that, you made a human that guardian as well… this can only backfire on us," the fourth general's slightly deep voice sighed while cleaning a golden object in shape of a harmonica, while they remained off to the side.

"They're right. Get that thing out of that guardian suit and give it to a monster immediately!" Zeggfor ordered. The sword wielding plant monster was twirling his top hat on his blade, a habit he did when he was worried.

"Erm… about that… as the greatest swordsman ever, I presumed that a human would be the best apprentice ever… I managed to make her absorb a lot of my dark essence, as well as the majesty's that was within the heart, and… well… we only had enough Gruynithil to make one this size," Teronzata explained, feeling all eyes in the room on him. The guardian stood before the majesty, not moving or reacting.

"…It has always fascinated me… those two guardians are using my own hearts against us… Yet they don't have my essence within them anymore…It's as though they corrupted my hearts," the majesty had deeply pondered this for a long time. Essence was a great alternative source for internal energy, but it took a lot more of one type of essence to overwhelm and remove another kind of essence. Something which humans obliviously balanced daily.

"And this one human was too weak to fight it all?"

"Yes! She succumbed to it with such ease…" his swordsman nodded while plunking his hat back onto his head, tapping his sword on the dark blue guardian's helmet, receiving no reaction. Teronzata had used all the Gruynithil because the textoth failed at recreating the guardian suit multiple times until this one, otherwise they could happily make a guardian suit for a monster.

"Judging by her gaze, her mind may be in our control, but there's a part of it that is full of nothing but hatred. As the greatest swordsman ever, I've seen this type of gaze many a time on the battlefield! It's the look of spite and determination, to…"

"Enough!" the majesty zapped Teronzata with a blast of thunder, sending him flying across the room and crashing into several textoth. The majesty then averted his attention to the dark blue guardian. "…Guardian… present your face."

The generals in the room watched as the dark blue guardian reached up and removed her helmet. She looked to the majesty, her expression flat but her eyes like daggers.

"If I could move, I would attack you right now!" Lori thought. Unfortunately, her body was not in her control. She felt horrible for what she had done to Lincoln earlier, but she could do nothing now beyond mentally scream at herself.

"Xeran Guardian, most of my loyal generals are monsters… outcasts from their dimensions, or humans that gave up their worthless bodies for our superiority. Prove to me you are worthy of my essence being in your body, and I shall grant you the same transcendent gift!" the majesty declared while standing up, his royal cape slightly shaking around at his sudden movement.

"I serve the Xeran. Our goal is to bring our majesty into this dimension," Lori spoke. She went down on one knee, placing the palm of her hand on the ground while her helmet was under her other arm. She bowed her blonde head to the majesty, hearing the three of the four generals gather.

"No I don't! Stop saying that you… me… us!" Lori cried from her mind to no avail.

"I have the perfect test for you… Teronzata taught you swordplay. Therefore, practice to test your skills with the blade will occur in the dimension's morning," the majesty ordered. Teronzata groaned while lying on a pile of bones, pleased to hear this news.

"Thank you, yo-your majesty! As the world's greatest swordsman, I won't let you down!" Teronzata exclaimed with a bright tone. Lori put her helmet back on her head, hearing it clunk into a secure position before she closed the visor.

"Come, my apprentice! Let us play with our long metal objects," the sword wielding plant led the way through the castle in the eldritch dimension to train their swordplay. Lori hoped Lincoln was okay, whatever he was doing and she wondered if he would forgive her for what she was forced to do to him.

Friday had hit Royal Woods. Today was a teacher holiday for many schools, so most students were out for today. In a more industrial part of the town, there was a traffic jam, one that oddly had been going on for three hours.

"I'd say the boss is going to be mad that we're late, but I'm pretty sure that's HIS car in the other lane," one irritated driver spoke while carpooling with his coworkers. They felt the ground rumble slightly.

"Are we actually moving?" Another worker yawned, noticing several lines of cars beginning to vanish on the horizon. Their car suddenly began to tilt. They screamed in terror as they fell into a large hole that came through the road nearly all over the place.

"Gahaha! Give me your essence! Fear is so easy to gather," Xerill spoke while drilling through the road back to the surface. Waves of dark essence emerged from the pits. The people were now trapped inside, scared for their lives.

"Ahh… perfect… the majesty will be happy to see all I have gathered," the drill monster laughed, its arms spinning and collecting the essence in the air. Soon enough, Xerill suddenly received a strong kick to the back that knocked him into one of his own pits, falling onto the roof of a car, much to his painful displeasure.

"Nice kick," Lincoln complimented Lynn. They had gotten the surprise on the monster after hunting for him most of the day. Now they could thwart him like they did the other Xeran forces so far.

"Thanks," Lynn smiled. Her boyfriend had not been acting the same though. She couldn't talk to him at all this morning and Luna had spent part of last night attempting to console him for something that neither knew about, Luna wound up failing and being more frustrated with herself in the end.

"I should have expected you…" Xerill dug his drill arms into the ground, beginning to quickly tunnel through back to the upper ground behind them, letting his arms spin against one another and sharpening them, sparks flying out with each graze, "You'd best flee if you don't want holes all over your body!"

"Sorry, but we're not going anywhere," Lynn retorted while they unveiled, their stars both of them putting them into place and securing them shut.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" they both struck their pose as their guardian suits appeared on them and their weapons readied, the two reaching up when their helmets appeared onto their heads.

"Lock in!" their helmets both secured with a clunk, and they both tapped the sides of their helmets making the visors close.

"Guardian Black guardian of-" Lynn stopped when she heard a loud battle cry, as Guardian Red charged straight for the monster without any hesitation, clashing weapons with the Xeran elite monster catching it by surprise.

"What?! No role call?!" the monster gasped in shock. Lynn wondered if Lisa could offer some advice here.

"It appears Lincoln has some personal disposition for this monster," Lisa commented while viewing the battle from their perspectives, over her laptop.

"I don't think that's the problem here, Lisa. He's been upset since last night. He won't tell me why either," Lynn stated worriedly, seeing sparks and attacks exchanging from the two battlers.

Guardian Red growled while pulling at one of the drill arms of the monster. He slashed the joint that was connecting it to the robots shoulder. Xerill screamed as his left arm was cut off, wires and bolts going everywhere.

"Yes, he is definitely upset," Lisa stated. Their only brother was fighting like this monster was going to kill everybody in the pit if he was not beaten soon, even though all Xerill had done is just dug traps and wandered, abandoned by Teronzata since he had served his purpose.

"Get off me!" Xerill stabbed Lincoln in the chest, sending him flying into Lynn, who then caught him.

"Lincoln! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Just let me up!" Lincoln replied, smoke coming from his cut chest. He quickly aimed his guardian gauntlet for the drill monster, and it began to light ablaze while he deposited a large amount of his red essence into his weapon.

"Lincoln! You didn't even attempt to pin the monster! Your claws should be sharp enough to pierce its material!" Lisa tried to make him stop the finisher to do it properly, but he ignored her instructions.

"Guardian finisher! Flare burst! Engage!" Lincoln fired, watching the flaming star go spinning toward the monster at high speed. Xerill tried to put up his guard, only for the curved red star to pierce his arm and body with a bright blaze of fire.

"Ough… It appears I… dug my own grave," with his last words, Xerill fell onto the road before exploding. When Lynn and Lincoln bore witness, the shock hit them that Lincoln's star was caught in the blast, and in reaction, it flew high up into the air, away to a far off location. The essence sphere the monster had rolling on the ground.

"Lincoln!" Lynn saw him morph back to normal before collapsing onto both knees, his palms on the ground while he was sweating and panting. That was a bad sign alone. She returned to normal as well, pocketing her black star.

"I got him… hahah… why should I be proud when I'm some worthless parasite…?" Lincoln coughed, ready to faint. Lisa was going to be furious by the time she was informed that Guardian Red had lost his star, one of two things he needed to become a guardian in the first place.

"If you think I'm going to let you go to that party tonight when you're like this, you're in for a surprise!" Lynn insisted, knowing there was something on his mind right now, "Come on, let's get home. We killed the monster, so we can relax."

Lincoln was too exhausted to move. He had gone overboard in this fight that he had burnt far too much essence into that one attack. He didn't even allow Lynn to help. "Sorry…"

After Lynn got the empty essence sphere that Xerill had dropped, she went over and picked Lincoln up in her arms and began to walk away. They could hear the sound of various sirens in the air coming to help those trapped in the pits, the guardians could not do much to aid those that were stuck there.

"Lisa's definitely going to kill me…"


	22. Stress

**Authors Note: With a brothers debt done, I'm going to be trying my best to update Guardian Louds daily, there also is other news, after three fics being read by randomly selected reviewers. My next story is going to be out hopefully soon, it's going to be a break from all that dark stuff. I hope you all enjoy!**

"I've never seen her this mad before…" Lincoln could only think while Lisa was pacing back and forth in front of him while he was sat in his seat. Lynn was off to the side, her gear being examined by their intelligent sister's computer out of her insistence for a quick diagnostic scan, to make sure things were alright.

"This is the most reckless thing you've done!" Lisa lectured to Lincoln's face, "The world needs these items! You two have been entrusted with these, and no one else can now since they have your genetic coding within them! And what did you do?! You shot the star without the electromagnetic claws in place to guarantee its return!"

"Guess that explains how it bounced back after I beat Perfan," Lincoln muttered, wondering how his star was designed to come back after being used in the finishing move. The very claws in his gauntlet were made to attract it right back after being fired.

"The only reason I didn't care when you did it when fought Teronzata, was because Lynn stopped it from escaping! Now we have no idea where it is! We're down a guardian, and who knows what the Xeran are going to do in that time! Do you have any idea how bad this is Lincoln?!" Lisa demanded. Their sporty sibling could tell her boyfriend was drained. He had been that way since they fought the drill monster, his depression was quite blatant.

"Come on, Lisa. As long as I'm alive we aren't down a guardian, even if I can't transform I won't wuss out of a fight. Don't you have a tracking device in it? You have one in my gauntlet after all," Lincoln responded. She knew their locations at all times as long as they had their guardian gear equipped.

"The essence sphere in that star emits so much power, that it MELTS any tracking chips I tried to insert into the metal!" the child prodigy informed him.

"Lisa, calm down, something's bugging him… You know Lincoln wouldn't do anything to make you mad on purpose. I mean, why can't we just make another star? We have an essence sphere from that drill beast we beat," Lynn suggested.

"There isn't anything in it. I don't know how the essence to power these things is transferred exactly… But I know without any, it's worthless, and even if it did produce energy, we have no Gruynithil to make another star out of," Lisa shot down that idea. That essence sphere was otherwise going to remain locked away tight in that very durable glass casing.

"You're super smart for a reason. I'm sure it won't be hard to think of where it could have gone… But look, freaking out isn't going to get a single thing done," the auburn haired girl reassured they would be fine. Lisa adjusted her glasses while trying to calm down, turning to their only brother.

"Apologies, Lincoln… I suppose stress has finally made me 'snap'. Would you care to elaborate on what the matter on your mind is?" She apologized. All this shouting had done was strain her vocal chords, when she should have been pondering from minute one where the red star could be.

"I'm just tired," Lincoln responded.

"We mean mentally. Something's upset you, Linc," Lynn claimed. She was not going to let him go to Chandler's big party tonight either if he wasn't honest with them.

"…Lori hates me…" the lone Loud boy flatly said. The two sisters wondered if they had heard him correctly. It sounded insane, but in a sense, the oldest Loud sibling hated them all to an extent, but in reality she hated how annoying they could be.

"Is this because of you saying she didn't love you? I figured you had apologized for that," Lynn asked, having been informed of that incident yesterday. One misunderstanding went a bit out of hand as far as she could tell.

"No, Lynn. She kicked me out of her room. I offered to do anything to make up for it… but she punched me in the face and left after that," Lincoln sniffled, trying to stay strong, but lacking that spark of heroic spirit he normally had.

"…You went overboard on that monster. I think you used your finisher too excessively and now your emotions are getting the best of you," Lisa was at her laptop, looking over the map of Royal Woods she always used, trying to think of where the star could have gone, but there were too many options at the moment.

"My emotions?" Lincoln wondered what his feelings had anything to do with this. Lynn was still in disbelief from hearing that their oldest sister hit him. The way he was acting made her believe it easily.

"Yes. Judging from what I can determine, essence seems to thrive and grow from one type of emotion or another… And from what I can tell, you've been using your anger for your finisher. I presume your exhaustion extends from putting too much into that last finisher against Xerill," Lisa explained to the best of her ability. She barely had any knowledge on these essence spheres, let alone on the residing energy within them.

"All the more reason why you need to relax," Lynn told her boyfriend, guessing without his anger, his emotions had gotten unbalanced, resulting in his depressing tiredness. It was odd, a powerful source of energy was from within the human body. In a sense it felt poetic, but in reality she found it insane that the essence spheres were glorified converters for said essence, turning essence into power.

"Perhaps it'd be best if you did go to that party… We're not in a good position at the moment, and we can worry about Lori at a later date. For now, you two should celebrate this victory," Lisa stated, planning on monitoring any social media she could and police radio, or emergency 911 calls to make sure the Xeran were not up to anything.

"Are you sure, Lisa? You don't want us to go out to try and look for my star?" Lincoln questioned. He did need that star if he wanted to transform to Guardian Red, the star was the key and his gauntlet was the lock after all.

"Well Lincoln, there are too many variables right now to even find a general area to search. You have to take into account the wind trajectory the explosion sent it, how high up you all were, the drill monster's density, and if it'd slow it down or not, and…" Lisa rambled on for a while, the teenage couple taking her order to go to the party and unwind, instead of being given out of school lectures.

"Well, I'm gonna go help with dinner. You have fun, Lincoln," Lynn said. Lincoln, however, had a thought cross his mind. He grabbed his girlfriend's hand before she could make her way down the steps.

"Funny thing is, Lynn, the invite I got is one of the first few, and they're special, because they let me bring someone else to the party with me," Lincoln claimed, pulling the invitation out from his pocket. He was thankful to have made friends with Chandler, and that there was now one less person trying to hurt him in school.

"Lincoln… are you… asking me out to this party?" Lynn sheepishly questioned. Her new boyfriend nodded.

"Well, uh… yeah. We haven't had a real first date yet… I figured that we could start things off like this," Lincoln nodded. It would be nice to be able to spend the night together with his new girlfriend. He was willing to leave out that Luna had been practically interrogating him since he refused to tell her what happened between him and Lori.

"I'll get my bike!" Lynn happily fist-bumped her brother.

"Wait, that's a one-seater though…"

"That one seat's big enough for both of us. Is there any dress requirement or stuff for this party?"

"Not that I know. As far as I can tell, it's just a large party in a club," Lincoln shrugged. The two decided they would be fine dressed the way they were. The rest of the Loud family was preoccupied with their own activities at the moment.

"Well, let's get going," Lynn declared. Lincoln was just glad to know that Lisa would tell the rest of the family where they went if needed. Since it was a Friday night, they should not care that the two went to a party. They would be back before midnight as long as nothing happened that needed their attention.

"Y'know, I'm kinda nervous," Lincoln confessed, seeing Lynn on the bike getting her helmet on.

"What? Why? Is one of the wheels going flat again?" She questioned, wondering what about her bike was making him nervous beyond the variety of minor repairs it required. It only took a moment to figure out why by looking at his shy face.

"Lincoln. You look cute when you're nervous… but I'm wearing a thick combat ready vest. You don't have to worry about where you grab," Lynn reassured him to not be worried. The guardian gear she had was still perfect for the season to her. Lincoln sighed, aware that denying his worries would get him nowhere.

"Alright… alright… Let's go," he just got on the bike behind her, letting her pedal onward.

Ronnie Anne sat in her home, looking at the single image of Lincoln and Lynn holding hands on her phone. She couldn't put a finger on why it was bothering her so much.

"I got rid of that overprotective idiot for a reason… Is it jealousy or is it because I just know what they're doing is plain wrong?" the Santiago girl lay back on her bed. After having overheard the conversation in the gym the other day, the siblings' relationship together was unforgettable to her.

"I'm trying so hard to make things normal… or at least make them like they were before we ever dated," Ronnie Anne huffed. All the pranks and increased bullying toward Lincoln was just her way of trying to make things go back to how they once were, and yet her ex-boyfriend had become a lot wiser to pranks or traps of any kind. Being able to outwit them.

"I guess he's happy, though… I guess I just feel bad for being mean when he was trying to be nice," Ronnie Anne was lost in her thoughts. Lincoln had changed a lot recently, more happy with a bright radiating aura around him and a confident stride in his step. It was odd, but out of everything on her mind, it was the least of her puzzles.

"Screw it. Just try harder and we'll both forget we ever dated in the first place," Ronnie Anne deleted the picture successfully, letting it vanish from her phone for good. She laid her phone beside her, rubbing her head sorely.

"It's not my family or love life anymore. I'll let him do what he wants," the Santiago girl murmured. She would not care to tell him that he was committing incestual activities. As crazy as the world was becoming recently, she doubted it mattered.

"What happened to my life?" Ronnie Anne groaned, still not able to believe it monsters were now a real thing, causing trouble randomly across Royal Woods. Every day, the news reported on increasing strange activity, more and more people getting hurt. The world really was in a weird place right now.

"At least those two guardians are protecting us," she undid her hair from its ponytail, letting it flow freely. She got a lot of pleasure watching the two guardians fight on television. The media and everyone that saw them equally enjoyed the two heroes of Royal Woods, even if no one knew their true identities.

"Ronnie Anne, can I talk to you?" Bobby's voice rung out as he knocked on his little sister's open door. He did his best to take care of her, but his only sister did not like him a lot for various reasons, none that he could figure out, but was working hard to improve on.

"What is it, Bobby? I'm not feeling too good tonight…" Ronnie Anne laid her coat on her computer chair.

"I wanted to know if you had heard from Lori. I know she has your phone number, but she won't respond to any of my texts or calls," Bobby explained, hoping that his girlfriend had told the Santiago girl something. She hated seeing him look so anxious.

"No, I haven't heard a thing from her… She's probably just lost her phone," Ronnie Anne reassured.

"I guess… She just has been kind of ignoring me today," Bobby added.

"Bobby, come on. Not answering your texts in less than five minutes doesn't mean she's ignoring you," the Santiago girl retorted. She knew her only brother well enough to know he could over exaggerate when it came to Lori, not that she would judge him for it. After a silent moment of Bobby understanding and taking that in, they heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it," Bobby volunteered, going off to see who it was. Ronnie Anne came a minute later to see Lori in the living room with Bobby.

"Hey, Lori. What are you doing here?" the black haired girl questioned, having not expected this surprise visit.

"She wanted to stay with us tonight, because of some fight with Lincoln," Bobby explained. Lori did look sad, but Ronnie Anne could tell something was wrong, but she tried to ignore it, thinking her earlier thoughts about Lincoln and Lynn were making her lose it mentally.

"Welcome to our home. Try and keep things quiet in your bed, Bobby," Ronnie Anne sighed and went to the kitchen, when she heard the blonde girl chime up.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart," she said. Neither Ronnie Anne nor Bobby had ever heard her talk like that before.

"Uhh… no problem…?" Ronnie Anne wondered what Lincoln did to upset Lori, if that was making her act this strange. The teenage girl just continued to the kitchen, wanting to get through the rest of the day.

"Tonight's going to be weird."


	23. Party Night

"Is this the place?" Lynn asked while they were riding down the sidewalk. Many other people from their school were coming to one very bright and flashy building. She stopped her bike, and she and Lincoln got off.

"Definitely is," Lincoln claimed. He could even see Clyde through one of the windows. This probably was the most people ever invited to one of Chandler's parties. The teenage couple approached the entrance to the side, where they were stopped by two bigger goons of Chandler's.

"Invitation?" They requested. The Louds showed his invite, and the two guards stepped aside, letting them come in.

"Lincoln? Dude, there you are! I was worried you weren't comin," Clyde went to his best friend, surprised to see his sister with him.

"I couldn't miss this! Who'd you bring with you?" Lincoln asked. One look around and Lynn could see one part of the room set up with plenty of snacks and food, the dance floor in the center shining with rainbows of lights, otherwise the room would be dark. The DJ in the back working to keep the beat going.

"Eh… I had no one to bring, so I just used my invite to help someone who forgot theirs to get in," Clyde claimed. He had only very few friends outside of the Loud family, and even then, that was not a certain bond beyond his with Lincoln.

"You know, they probably just lied so you'd help'em get inside, right?" Lynn suggested that her boyfriend's classmate got used. Clyde shrugged, not seeming to be bothered by that. It was too late to stop it if it was true. As long as the invitation got full use, he didn't care.

"Things have been a bit stressful for us today," Lincoln said while the three of them headed upstairs, a lounge room for people to simply mingle, the chairs wrapping around the tables and comfortable enough to sleep on.

"Really? What happened? I mean, you don't seem as happy as usual but you look good," Clyde asked. Lincoln had no idea how to respond to that, no lie coming to mind.

"You wouldn't believe us, even if we told you," Lynn answered, Clyde laughing lightly at that.

"Considering monsters and superheroes are an actual thing in this world now, I'm starting to believe a lot of things lately," Clyde retorted. The teenage couple could not deny that the world indeed was a crazy place, it was no surprise that most of the insanity seemed to be focused on Royal Woods as of late.

"Huh? Oh, sorry… that's Lori's ringtone," Lincoln apologized when his cellphone began ringing. He had a special musical tone assigned to everyone in his contacts; Lori's was an evil assortment of violins. He thought it fit perfect for her when he first heard it.

"Alright. I'm gonna go find Chandler and let'em know you're here," Clyde declared before going off.

"I'll be on the party floor," Lynn knew her boyfriend was having problems with their eldest sister. She wanted to assault Lori the next time she saw her. It took a lot to restrain herself from even grabbing his phone. She left her brother to handle the call.

"Hey Lori," Lincoln nervously answered, thankful that the music upstairs was not quite as loud as it was down below.

"Uhh, it's me, Bobby. Sorry, Lincoln, but my phone's battery died for no reason, so I borrowed Lori's," Bobby apologized. His phone rarely was on low battery because he kept it charged at all times. Therefore he never would miss a text from Lori, it was weird that the battery lost all the charge.

"Bobby? What's Lori doing over there?" Lincoln questioned. He figured this was the one place Lori planned to go to after she left their Loud residence.

"She asked if she could spend the night here, and I know it's not any of my business, but whatever you two fought about really has gotten to her," Bobby while sat outside on the hood of his car. He sounded concerned but also confused.

"That makes two of us… I know I was an idiot for saying she didn't love me, and I tried apologizing. I'm guessing she's been crying a lot?" Lincoln guessed. Though still guilty, he presumed his oldest sister had told her boyfriend all about what had happened with a very over dramatic touch.

"No, she's not mentioned what made you two fight. I mean, she's acting like… well… not Lori. It's nothing too bad, but… it's just weird," Bobby described it to his fullest ability. Sadly he could not put his finger on why his girlfriend was acting weird, it was more small things that piled up fast.

"When you say weird, I hear normal. We're Louds, remember?" Lincoln replied with his family's made up policy, "Can you tell me one thing she's doing that's weird?"

The Santiago boy paused for a moment before lightly chuckling to himself like he could not believe it himself.

"She's treating Ronnie Anne like she's her daughter… is that weird enough?"

Lincoln stared off into space confusedly. He had to process that information a while. Bobby would not mess with him, even if his sister requested him to.

"Maybe she hit her head? I don't think arguments cause people to act like that… Maybe she's trying to be nice to her?" Lincoln suggested. The Santiagos' parents were practically gone from the picture of their lives since they were working often just like their son, difference is instead of multiple jobs taking part of their time, they had single jobs taking all their time.

"I mean, I guess… I'm probably just worrying over nothing, she's probably just trying to bond with Ronnie Anne…" Bobby smiled, sounding a lot more reassured now, though still felt like something was wrong.

"Well, let her do what she wants, and text me how things go and if she changes or not," Lincoln ordered.

"Okay… I'll text you whenever," Bobby promised. Lincoln hung up from there, hoping he would at least do that much for him. Lincoln then saw Lynn return with a halved submarine sandwich.

"Where'd you get the sub?" Lincoln quirked, his girlfriend giving him one half of it.

"They have everything down there! Literally!" Lynn claimed, just as surprised as him. Lincoln knew that she loved these types of sandwiches the most, not that he could blame her. They were pretty great, but he just never understood her addiction for them specifically.

"Bobby called. He said Lori was at his place… She's treating Ronnie Anne like her daughter," Lincoln informed his girlfriend, making her choke on her food. One quick swat to her back fixed that.

"What?! Oh my gosh! That is gold," Lynn laughed, they could see Chandler and Clyde coming. Lincoln held his girlfriend's hand, wanting to try and enjoy the party to distract him from the depression that was trying to grow on him.

"I hope Lori isn't going crazy," Lincoln mentally hoped.

"I'm going crazy!" Lori mentally screamed.

"My, you're doing well at this thus far, my apprentice," Teronzata commented, the dark guardian standing before him. Lori was still not in control of her own body and exhausted. Her body was a puppet, but she was like a battery for it at this point. She was surrounded by textoth from left to right. An odd, thin sword was gripped in her left hand.

"Make it stop… it hurts…" Lori cried for her body to stop, to no response from her body. The sword wielding plant monster snapped his fingers.

"Round twelve. Go for it, textoth, and no holding back," Teronzata ordered. The ten skeletons charged straight for Lori. She had been under this stressful swordplay for hours on end, her body rarely tired, but her mind sick of it all could feel every ounce of soreness and pain.

"Feather's edge," Lori's body spoke, before spinning around in a full circle, her sword out, causing a bright light blue trail to follow behind the blade. It collided with each textoth, causing sparks of smoke to erupt from each one hit. Some did not get back up from the attack, but the last six did.

"Impressive! That blade is suited or you, my apprentice, and as the greatest swordsman in the world, I should be able to tell!" Teronzata clapped. The six textoth had their swords ready. Lori kept her knightly stance as if daring them to make the first move.

"I don't want it! I don't want to be here! This is torture!" Lori cried in her own head as if begging for someone to hear it. The sword Teronzata had given her had odd grooves to it the blade, resembling a large bird's feather. It cut the air immensely fast.

"Scatter," Lori slashed the air twice, creating a large blue X in the air. She then slashed vertically, sending it flying toward the last few textoth. It pierced them all, their defeated howls sounding as they collapsed into dust, while their essence escaped to return to the core that gave them life.

"That was an impressive performance for a new swordswoman," the sound of a familiar voice spoke out. Both the dark blue guardian and Teronzata looked over to the fourth majesty's general who entered the room.

"BelGaner? What is so important that you wish to interrupt the greatest swordsman from training his apprentice?" Teronzata requested. BelGaner was a tall lanky robotic individual in sleek metal, the black sheen covering his body. He had a long rainbow colored scarf around his neck, his eyes bright yellow, and a golden harmonica on his side.

"I came to offer an actual opponent to this guardian… I still believe this can only backfire on us," BelGaner reached to the other side of his body where a holster was, pulling out a gun that looked like a combination of an ancient flintlock pistol and a revolver.

"Have some hope in my body and soul! I am the best swordsman in the world! How can this magnificent plan go wrong?!" Teronzata demanded, BelGaner looking to him with an irritated whir. Many did not tolerate the plant monster, but he saw him as a friend for some unknown reason. The robot general did not have any idea why, and the majesty had no answers for him either.

"Teronzata, where there resides darkness, light glimmers from within the shadows. Where it be fueled by hate, love, fear, bravery, that light eventually leads one out of the darkness as long as they don't give in… I've been in enough duels to know when someone can't control their hate," BelGaner spoke while polishing the barrel of his flintlock revolver.

"At least I can like this guy… He isn't insane or annoying," Lori thought, her sword gripped tight, though still concerned about being challenged to a duel. The last time she checked, guns had an advantage over blades. Not that she could say no, it was the one controlling her currently to make that decision for her.

"Well have at it, my trusty apprentice!" Teronzata stepped back as the two got positioned across the room, waiting for the signal to start. A textoth stepped up with a large old bell. After a few seconds, it swung it down, before jumping back. A large rattling sound echoed indicating it was time to start.

"Type 1 ammo fire," BelGaner spun the chamber of his flintlock revolver and began to open fire. The bullets that came straight for her were made of energy. Lori quickly slashed and caught multiple of the blasts with her sword, knocking them aside so they blasted harmlessly on the ground.

"Scatter," Lori spun vertically, sending out a large blue wave of sharp energy. BelGaner threw himself forward and rolled over it.

"Type 2 ammo fire," the mechanical Xeran began to fire rapidly, this time aiming for her feet. Lori dodged most, but one caught her foot, and it froze half of her leg to the ground upon contact. Teronzata was impressed by the two's exchange so far.

"Type 3 ammo fire," BelGaner spun the chamber, before standing up while slowly raising his arm, aiming carefully. Upon firing his gun, his arm jerked from the kickback. A large blazing red shot flew toward the dark blue guardian. Lori thrust her blade forward to try and stop it, and it failed. The explosive impact sent her flying.

"Gaaah!" The now no longer morphed Lori hit the wall bouncing off as she collapsed onto the floor, a light blue star with only three points instead of five clanking beside her, as well as her sword, which upon landing, folded back into the hilt.

"It appears I win," BelGaner twirled his flintlock revolver before slipping it back into his holster.

"You overdid it! What if she isn't able to recover in time for her test tomorrow?!" Teronzata worriedly asked. The majesty was going to kill him if he wasted all this time and the majesty's heart on the young adult, and nothing came out of it but futility.

"You better get a lot of essence to save yourself then," BelGaner began to leave the training room, leaving Teronzata on that note.

"Oh woe is me..."


	24. Growing Bonds

**Authors Note: I apologize for not updating yesterday dear viewers, a family emergency had me unable to upload chapters. All I could do is respond to messages, once again forgive me for that. I have begun work on the more light hearted fic in other news! I do not know when it will be ready, but I hope you all take care!**

The night went on like normal into the late hours. It was around ten in the evening, when Lincoln and Lynn were distracted or called away from the large crowd by other things that caught their attention, they had taken a lot of their energy. They were both tired now and just resting on one of the couches upstairs.

"Ronnie Anne's actually getting so annoyed with Lori, she's texting me too, of all people," Lincoln commented while looking at his cellphone. He never expected his ex-girlfriend to acknowledge his phone number anymore, but most of the texts at the moment were complaints about Lori from her.

"Bobby talks positive about it, and Ronnie talks negative about it… sounds normal. What's this text say?" Lynn asked, both Santiagos having texted him a lot tonight. The lone Loud boy showed his girlfriend the most recent message from his ex.

"Lori made dinner for us and she's being too sweet, it's creeping me out! She even offered to help wash my hair, after she made my bed and vacuumed my room..."

"Strange, isn't it? It's not like Lori to be able to cook alone…Or offer to do any of that kind of stuff out of nowhere." Lincoln put his phone in his pocket, not wanting to be worried over trivial happenings tonight.

"Yeah… Say, have you been enjoying the party?" Lynn asked her boyfriend. He nodded, quite tired from all the activities. Having her nearly break his arm and leg dancing was another story altogether.

"It's been great! Thanks for letting me come… or convincing me to… I really can't tell which you did," Lincoln replied, scratching his white-haired head. He was glad not to have another emotional burnout like he experienced today.

"Y'know, it's weird…"

"What is? Lori? I still wanna brutalize her after the way she messed with you," the auburn haired girl responded. He understood her anger, but hoped that there was more to this than they knew.

"No, it's about us… I just wanted to ask if you were okay with all this. I don't just mean being a guardian or me being your boyfriend, but I want to know if you're okay with me guarding you, not as your brother but as your boyfriend?" Lincoln questioned. He knew his protective nature was what ended his and Ronnie Anne's relationship in the first place, he did not want to risk ruining this new bond over the same reason, even if it was to save the world.

"As long as you're okay with me guarding you… not as your sister, but as your girlfriend," Lynn responded

"Of course, Lynn… I…" He felt her gloved hand on his, and she leaned onto him, her face nearing his, "Ly-Lynn, what are yo-mhpphf!"

Lincoln's lips were touched by hers. He fell back on the long couch. At first he tried to resist, but after a second, he embraced the moment and decided to enjoy it. This passionate exchange could be treated by them both like it was their last, considering how things worsened every day, and the Xeran trying to kill them constantly as well.

"Whoa…" Lincoln panted for breath once their kiss broke. He could only look at Lynn with a rose red face. He was not having an internal crisis right now, which made him slowly realize that he really did accept this, whether he was ashamed in himself was still yet to be discovered.

"Sorry, Lincoln. I-I couldn't help myself…"

"No no, Lynn. That felt great…There's no need to be ashamed. You said you've had these feelings for me a while after all," Lincoln reminded his sister while on the couch, with her lying on top of him, he let her head rest upon his chest. Lincoln felt his heart growing rapidly for her.

"I'm not ashamed that I did it. I just guess I'm worried that I forced you into this," Lynn confessed, feeling like he only became her boyfriend so she would accept the terms to become Guardian Black. She then felt his arms wrap around her body.

"I'm not that shallow, am I?" Lincoln smirked, enjoying the moment a lot, not judging Lynn for thinking of that, but he assured her that he would not give the relationship a chance just so another guardian could exist, he could have recruited Lori to avoid dating Lynn if that was the case.

"No, you're just the right amount of Lincoln for me," Lynn laughed. The moment however was interrupted when the sound of Guardian Red's cellphone began to ring. He let his sporty sister continue lying on top of him as he pulled the phone up to his head to answer.

"Hello?" Lincoln answered.

"Hey bro! I wanted to ask if you and Lynn were gonna be home tonight or spending it with Clyde?" Luna called. She was informed by Bobby through phone call that Lori wanted to stay at his place, Lisa having told the rest of the family about where the two siblings had gone, none minding the fact they went to a party.

"It's getting late… we'll be back home soon," Lincoln claimed.

"Hope so, bro," Luna hoped, aware of how tired they must be. A party that was being held this late always made the guests tired, she had been to enough to know.

"Come on. Lisa might have some news about your star for us, too," Lynn agreed while her boyfriend hung up, the two getting up and heading out of the party. They could tell that Chandler and Clyde were not going anywhere as they both were fast asleep, Clyde was unconscious in the janitor closet and Chandler was lying on the counter snoozing away.

"This is going to be rough…" Lincoln murmured as they got back outside. The star hunt was going to be a pain. Lynn was glad that the bicycles were being looked over by the bouncers.

"I'm sure we can handle it easily," Lynn reassured while mounting on her bike, her brother boyfriend getting onto the back and holding onto her as she began to pedal away, turning and leaving the party, for a somewhat long trip back home.

In another part of Royal Woods, a portal was sliced open, Teronzata hopping through the vortex and out of the eldritch dimension, the portal closing behind him.

"Now to find a suitable object to turn into an elite! The greatest swordsman in the world shan't fail to gather essence, even in the event that my apprentice gets me and herself killed," Teronzata murmured. He noticed a lot of bright red and yellowed tents being held up by wooden poles while others got put up.

"This dimension has odd building customs…" the majesty's general shrugged as he began to wander around freely. Any people around surprisingly did not care about him. Then again half the people here looked freakier than him, mainly because he was in a circus freak show that was being prepared to open tomorrow while it was in town.

"This is the first time I've been around humans and they've not screamed, most likely stunned that the greatest swordsman in the world was gracing their presence… Appearance is quite important it seems amongst humans," Teronzata rambled to himself while holding an essence sphere in his hand that was swirling with dark purple energy, the majesty having given him one of his hearts to gather essence with.

"My, those individuals look uncomfortably terrifying," the plant Xeran could see a few clowns gathered up, discussing their act tomorrow for their performance. The circus freak show combination was in Royal Woods for the weekend, and it tended to be quite popular.

"Hm… I suppose this will do… I've never tried to gather essence through joy, but as the greatest swordsman in all of existence, I should be able to make anything work," Teronzata said while looking down at a box full of comedic props normally used by the clowns to entertain the audience members. The sword master dropped the majesty's heart into the chest.

"Arise, my Xeran elite! The best swordsman of the Xeran army commands it!" Teronzata called out, watching the chest lid close tight. It began shaking violently before it sprouted brightly colored legs and arms, standing tall. The top half of the chest popped open, revealing the face of a brightly colored and happy monster. The chest she had for a body was full of clown props.

"Master Teronzata! Thank you for granting me my life," the new Xeran elite, the big ball of energy dressed as a clown, happily spun around.

"The greatest swordsman in the world needs your aid Xerest… I need you to gather essence the best way you know how," Teronzata declared.

Xerest reached into her chest and pulled out a custard pie. She knew what her master meant. "…With laughter!"

The plant monster gave a thumbs up before getting hit in the face with said pie. He sighed, beginning to feel like everyone lately was trying to frustrate him to no end.

"I need this essence in case my apprentice fails her test… Just so I can lie and show the majesty that she was not a waste of time," Teronzata thought. Xerest and the majesty's general began to part separate ways. The oblivious clown monster wanted to do her best for her creator, though in the end, she was nothing more than a throwaway suction device for the easiest type of essence to gather, and the most easy to regenerate as well.

"I did not anticipate you to return at all, Teronzata," Zeggfor was the first to greet the majesty's swordsman when he entered back into the eldritch realm. The two began to wander through the halls.

"Oh, shut up, you dinosaur!" Teronzata turned to him, "The greatest swordsman in the world has nothing to fear! My great apprentice will rise to any challenge presented to her!"

"For someone so confident, you had the courage to go begging a lot for that heart from the majesty… It was supposed to be my chance to create a Xeran Elite, but your idiotic guardian plan takes that much priority," Zeggfor commented. It seemed like the majesty wanted Lori's test as the Xeran's first ever guardian to go well. It would not only change the battlefield immensely, but if it worked, they would be able to harvest so much essence.

"You'll see tomorrow, Zeggfor! I swear on my blade, the vines that are my body and my hat that…" Teronzata stopped himself when he found that Zeggfor had vanished, "He's gone… oh well! Now where was I? Oh yes! My apprentice will do this successfully! I trained her just as well as I trained myself for these last hundreds of years… except she got half my skill level in a few days…"

Teronzata rambled on. When he thought about it, Lori was improving fast, but he had no idea what her name was, and he had forgotten any mentioning of it.

"I hope at least one thing works out tomorrow."


	25. Splitting Up

Lincoln's eyes fluttered open slowly. His room was mostly dark, light only peeking through the blinds as small lines of rays.

"Hm?" Lincoln tried to get up, but someone prevented him from rising. Lynn was beside him in her sleepwear, asleep with one of her arms around him. He looked at her somewhat snoring calm face.

"Oh, right… I forgot I agreed to sleep with you. I could get used to this," Lincoln smirked. It was not the first time he shared his bed with one of his siblings, but he never had in this context before. He planned on just resuming his slumber a while longer as it was the weekend, but with his star missing, he could not relax.

"Have you had a good regenerative unconscious state of being?" Lisa suddenly spoke from nowhere on cue, scaring Lincoln out of the bed and causing him to fall into the floor, waking his girlfriend up as well.

"Lisa?! Are you trading places with Lucy today?!" Lincoln popped back up while rubbing his now sore head, wondering how his room was so easy to infiltrate without him noticing. Considering there was only the one window and the single door was beside his bed, he would never truly know.

"I was having such a good dream, too…" Lynn sighed disappointingly while rubbing her eyes. Her guardian gear rested nearby. She occasionally took hers off, whereas her boyfriend refused to take that claw gauntlet off his forearm, not even in the shower.

"Apologies. I had the camera for your room set up so I could come speak to you the moment one of you awoke, since I have both questionably bad news and questionably good news," the child prodigy claimed. Lincoln knew that the second youngest Loud had a camera in every room of the house, and he could live with that, but being reminded often made it harder to ignore.

"Can we at least get changed first?" Lincoln requested to at least have his hair done before today's chaos inevitably ensued.

"Neither of us even have pants on yet," Lynn added. Sleeping in their underwear was just a thing many of the older siblings in the Loud house did. Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Come to my room when you're ready. The more expedited we are on these matters, the sooner we get exceptional results," the child genius walked out on that note, letting them know how important this matter was.

"I hope it's not Xeran related," Lincoln muttered while they both quickly got changed into their clothes, aware that the odds of that were very slim. He let his girlfriend get on her guardian gear as well before they left to the younger Loud's room. They wished they could have slept in, but heroes did not plan their own schedules. They fought for the peace that they relaxed in.

"So what's going on, Lisa?" Lynn asked straight away, ignoring the sleeping Lana, Lola and Lily. The early morning quietness was the few moments of the Loud house where things were not loud.

"Did you find my star?" Lincoln eagerly requested, Lisa presenting her laptop, the screen displaying a video from the popular website, MeTube. It was self explanatory; people put whatever content they wanted up on the website,

"We'll discuss that after. First, allow me to show you what was uploaded approximately an hour and fifteen minutes ago," Lisa hit the space bar, the video beginning after a few seconds. It showed someone with their camera phone, trying to get through a crowd.

"Oh hey, it's a clown," Lincoln commented.

"A really talented clown," Lynn added. The video now showed Xerest on it juggling five balls while leaning on one leg, her other leg stretched behind her and balancing a tall stack of valuable dinner plates. Her comedic props occasionally fell out of the chest of her body.

"Pay attention to the crowd around her," Lisa said. The entire audience seemed to be laughing at Xerest's act, playing the role of the poor clown trying to break a crazy record. It was an old gag that they had seen Luan do before, the punch line coming up now.

"Whoooa!" Plates shattered and balls flew. A huge wave of laughter roared after. Another thing Luan had taught Lincoln about comedy was that most of comedy revolved around tragedy, a victim so to speak, a fall man to each joke. No matter how harmless, there nearly always had to be one. The fact it was a monster from the Xeran army made it funnier somehow.

"Hang on… that's…!" Lynn gasped. Green essence flew into the air out of the people like they were willingly giving it up. Once released from their bodies, the essence began to be absorbed by something off screen that they could not see.

"Just our luck…" Lincoln sighed. The person holding the camera phone was stuck laughing too hard, just like the rest of the crowd. The video was over at this point. Crazily, there were a hundred thousand views in such a short time.

"Do you see the primary issue here? It appears we found the first Xeran achieving their hostile goal via general friendship and entertainment, but that was the questionably bad news," the child prodigy adjusted her glasses, before she pulled up the social media webpage that she normally kept viewing in case of Xeran activity.

"This is the questionably good news," Lisa stated. tons of pictures were being uploaded, as well as a trending tagline promoting what people were exclaiming to be the arrival of the third guardian of Royal Woods.

"Wait, what?!" Lincoln and Lynn stared, seeing the dark blue guardian in the pictures, walking somewhere specific without any weapon drawn, but for some reason she was morphed and attracting tons of public attention with her presence.

"It appears someone made an amateur replica of our guardian suits… But it's a horrible thing that they could replicate them on any scale. What's more fearful is that they are approaching the exact location I believe your star might be, Lincoln," Lisa explained. Whether it be coincidence or not, this new guardian was heading toward where his star was located which might make it harder to retrieve.

"Well we've gotta stop him!" Lincoln declared, "Especially if he's after my star!"

"It's a girl, Lincoln… Look at their body," Lynn pointed out. Her boyfriend looked at the pictures for a quick glance, and coughed.

"Uh… we've got to stop HER before she gets my star… if she's after it!"

"The main reason this news is questionable is because I cannot tell what this new guardian's intentions are… But if she is here to oppose the Xeran, I'd prefer a diplomatic approach instead of going in hostilely with weapons drawn," Lisa explained, pulling up the map of Royal Woods and pointing to the south eastern park off Pinedrip Avenue, claiming to be where his red curve tipped star was located.

"What do we do? Do we go talk to this guardian, or do we confront the monster first?" Lynn wondered aloud. They were caught in a horrible position of confronting a monster being an entertainer, or a possible ally, but for both, having to keep their guard up in a hostile fashion.

"That Xeran elite has earned people's trust through their laughter… I have a plan, but it needs Luan to be involved. Lincoln, I want you to take her to try and discern if this Xeran elite is friendly or not, while Lynn goes to retrieve your star and assess the mysterious Guardian Blue, to interrogate her in a sense," Lisa explained the best plan she had in mind.

"You want Luan to come with me? Why?" Lincoln quirked. he found that somewhat dangerous, and he disliked the idea of bringing anymore family members near the Xeran army.

"To fight fire with fire. You can just play as the heroic vigilante civilian for the time being, until your star's recovered. Luan's mastery of this area could help," the child prodigy stated. It was better to have the backup plan and not need it than to be caught in trouble without it.

"Well…" he looked to his girlfriend for her opinion, wondering if she would be alright with separating. He was more worried about her getting badly hurt.

"It can't hurt. Remember, you can fight just as good without your guardian weapon, Lincoln. that's why you started taking karate," Lynn reminded him, she had been giving him a good list of tips and advice as well.

"You sure you want to go meet this guardian alone?" Lincoln then questioned.

"Of course! No need to worry," Lynn nodded, "If anything bad happens, I'll grab your star and get it back to you quickly before she takes it."

"Right…!" Lincoln agreed, hoping she would be careful.

"Alright, get to work you two," Lisa ordered. The couple nodded, exchanging brief kisses. Lincoln watched Lynn leave to go try and get to the park quickly. She would try and eat extra at lunch time since they were both going to miss breakfast.

"My, you two have certainly gotten a lot closer now," the glasses wearing girl commented.

"We have, ever since yesterday," Lincoln nodded while looking over at the slumbering Lily. She looked so content and peaceful that it made him wonder what she was dreaming about.

"I'm surprised you aren't hysterically reacting over it… Congratulations on your relationship, Lincoln," Lisa told him, Lincoln blushing slightly as he turned to her.

"Thanks for trying to tell me about how she felt… Y'know, because I'm slow… I better get going," Lincoln left the room to go get Luan and go meet this Xeran elite. Weirdly, the essence being stolen was having no effect on the crowd losing it. Lincoln decided to save this puzzle on his mind for later, essence was too mysterious and weird for him to solve. It almost was like magic from the heart.

"I just hope this new guardian's friendly."


	26. Punbearable

"We're really going to see this new comedian?" Luan asked while following Lincoln through town, the early morning sun beating down on them. Lincoln had shown that video to his older sister before they left, and it was enough to give her plenty of reasons to come.

"Yeah! They are really interesting so far. I just wanted to check'em out. They're getting really popular so fast," Lincoln claimed. It was strange how fast this Xeran elite monster had gathered a large crowd, a lot larger than the one that had been presented in the video.

"Whoa… They must be good," Luan was eager now, though Lincoln was now more nervous than anything. He was just glad the Xeran could not steal his essence for whatever reason, neither could they take essence from his siblings, as far as he could tell, that it seemed to be a strange coincidence that was constantly on his mind.

"I hope she's not doing something dangerous…" Lincoln gulped. He would be terrified to be near this Xeran elite if it was juggling knives, or worse. The two had to bump and shove their way through the crowd to get near the center, apologizing as they reached the source of the grand entertainment.

"Alright, my fans! Since the last volunteer seems to be trap- stuck in that sewer pipe, I'll avoid using the teleporting rubber chicken again, for safeties sake," Xerest apologized to the crowd who were still laughing, believing it all to be one big act. Luan wished she could have seen that with her own eyes.

"However, I hope you don't mind an old classic being aided by a real poultry!"

Lincoln watched the Xeran elite comedian close her upper body in her chest-like torso before it popped open, and several chickens flew out. She only kept one in her palms.

"Please don't tell me it's what I think it is…" Lincoln muttered while brushing one of the many feathered farm animals off his head. At least the children in the crowd found them adorable.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Xerest giggled "to get to the ugly witches house of course!"

There was an awkward silence. No one understood the joke. Luan presumed it was one of those jokes that was too complex to laugh at.

"Well at least she's just failing at joke telling… and stealing from a farm?" Lincoln said. They watched the clown put a palm to the sidewalk beside her, and slowly rose it up, making a door appear beside her. She held the chicken up to one side and knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock!" Xerest cooed.

"Who's there?" the crowd called out, hoping the good old knock knock joke would be better than the other one.

"The chicken of course," Xerest opened the door, revealing Luan on the other side. She looked around in confusion, wondering what just happened and how she went from being in the crowd to in the center. It took a moment, but when Lincoln got the joke, he was angered fast.

"O-oh… I get it, I'm the ugly witch," Luan weak-heartedly laughed, realizing that she was being mocked for her looks. Her brother approached angrily toward Xerest, regretting bringing her now. This was either an unlucky coincidence or a sign that he should try his best to disassociate as much of his family from the Xeran.

"I guess you can say it was 'foul' play," Luan decided to try and make a groan-worthy pun to cheer herself up. Xerest seemed to gain a twitch in response and a slightly angered look on her face. Lincoln noticed this pretty fast, stopping in his tracks.

"Al-alright, how about you go now, metal face, so we can continue the good comedy," Xerest insisted.

"Hey, come on! Luan here is a great comic. I'm sure we can 'iron' out our issues," Lincoln grinned.

"Nice one, Linc," Luan gave him an approving thumbs up, though the crowd looked displeased with these puns. Xerest twitched more, losing her bubbly nature each passing second.

"Please get lost, you two! I'm trying to just do my job for my master," Xerest tried to be more pleading to the two she could not identify, not even Lincoln.

"Alright, come on, Linc. Let's just watch the rest of the show," Luan understood, trying to just be thankful for being involved, but aware of what her only brother was doing to get revenge for her public humiliation. Puns somehow angered the comedian monster.

"Okay, Luan! Let's just 'Linc' hands so we don't get separated in the crowd," Lincoln smiled. They then heard a sudden howling loud cry of anger.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Puns, puns, puns! The lowest, stupidest, weakest form of comedic humor! You've ruined this entire show! Textoth! Textoth! Get out here you weak boned idiots!" Xerest cried in anger. A dozen of the skeletal monsters began to emerge from hiding, having spent this time absorbing all the essence of joy the crowd had produced.

"I-it's the rioters!" Luan gulped. Most people still saw these textoth as a crazy cult that worshiped the Xeran monsters rather than minions.

"Luan, let's run!" Lincoln declared.

"You mean let's make like a banana and split," Luan punned in agreement, Xerest screaming again like someone had just stabbed her in the funny bone. The entire crowd vanished in one large panic. Lincoln however remained with the monster and the textoth once they all left, having only pretended to flee to get his sibling to escape without him. Lincoln hoped Luan would presume he was lost with the rest of the crowd.

"Oh look, the pun monster didn't run. I guess you're smart enough to take your punishment for ruining my show?" Xerest grinned while her chest body closed, then opened again. Out popped a large wooden hammer that she grabbed, used to comically crush watermelons, but also served for a good weapon. The textoth drew their weapons with her.

"That's really punny. Sadly, I'm here to stop you. I'm Guardian Red, protector of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln declared. He may not be able to morph without his star, but that did not stop him from striking his usual pose and giving his dramatic introduction.

"I'm going to flatten you!" Xerest squealed while jumping in anger at the pun. She didn't care if he was a guardian or not. She wanted to kill him just because of all the puns that made her nerves rupture. Lincoln had to confess that he had seen happy clowns, sad clowns and scary clowns, but never an angry clown.

"Let's hope Lynn's having an easier time," Lincoln made his claws pop out of his gauntlet before charging against his wave of thirteen enemies. Not even being able to activate his dual claws mode was another issue, but he would manage with singular combat.

"Attack!" Xerest ordered, bringing her large mallet down. Lincoln put up his guard, catching the attack. He was thankful his clawed gauntlet was like a miniature shield for him. Two textoths came at his sides, but Lincoln shoved himself back, dodging their attacks, rolling backwards on the ground and quickly standing back up.

"This has gotten a lot scarier knowing I have no protection…" Lincoln murmured. Without his guardian suit, he was going to take massive damage from any attack, unlike Lynn who had her vest gloves and boots.

"Stay still, you rude boy!" the Xeran elite monster threw her hammer beside her before she rummaged around in her chest, pulling out a large bright cannon, the type normally used to shoot confetti at a parade.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding," Lincoln groaned, seeing four of the textoth coming at him altogether. He ducked under the first's swing, before he slashed the next one in the stomach, blocking the third's attack. The teenager jumped over the fourth that tried to swing for his legs, stomping on its jagged scimitar and stopping it from attacking, while grappling with the third for its sword.

"Fire!" Xerest fired the cannon, and out flew multiple giant fake paper snakes. Lincoln quickly slashed the third textoth in the shoulder, stunning it, and he kneed the fourth one in the face, grabbing them both and getting behind them to use them as shields. The giant paper snakes collided with the skeletal warriors, and they exploded.

Lincoln was sent flying from the explosion, despite his skeletal shields taking the hit for him. He crashed onto the windshield of a car, shattering the glass as he fell through onto the passenger seat.

"I'm way over my head here," Lincoln coughed while brushing aside the broken glass with his gauntlet, before climbing back out. Thankfully he had minimal injuries on him. He was ready to fight the last seven textoth and the angry clown monster.

"Please hurry, do not leave me hanging here Lynn… I'd rather not let this monster escape."

"I wish Lisa told me where it MIGHT be. All she told me was that it's probably in this park," Lynn was on the street right next to the park. She saw a few others in the opening, but no sign of Lincoln's star yet. It was irritating, but even the child prodigy had her limits on what her genius could do, and not knowing the location of everything was sadly one of those limits. Lynn went and entered the park.

"Huh?" she saw a lot of people gathered toward the center of the park, looking hesitant or scared to get to close to what caught their attention.

"So she got here way before I did," Lynn rubbed her head, seeing the dark blue guardian before her, sitting there in a meditative fashion in front of the water fountain, one that was well known for producing small rainbows all around it at the middle of a bright, sunny day.

"Uh… hey there," Lynn approached. The dark blue guardian stayed idle to her call.

"Lynn?! Oh thank goodness! Help me! Help!" Lori mentally screamed in relief upon seeing her little sister. Her possessed body refused to move, despite her constant mental struggle.

"Sooo… you're a guardian too? That's uh cool… Say I am, too. Look," Lynn spoke quieter so no one could hear them. Everyone was too scared to get close to a guardian, mainly because of how strong they saw guardians tended to be, as well as being attacked often by Xeran. Guardian Black presented her black star to prove her identity, even if the third guardian used another method to transform.

"How'd you make your suit?" Lynn questioned. The blue guardian stood up, reaching for her side, grabbing the hilt of their sword and pulling it out. The handles of the hilt spread out as the blade extended and popped out.

Lynn was slashed across the chest, sparks and smoke sent flying off of her body as she fell flat on her back, coughing in pain. Her guardian gear vest took most of the attack, but the assault out of nowhere was still upsetting.

"Wh-what was that for?! I'm friendly! Don't you hate the Xeran, too?" Guardian Black asked, seeing the blade pointed to her throat.

"Don't do this!" Lori mentally screamed from seeing what her own body was doing to her sibling, "Don't make me hurt one of my sisters!"

Lynn knew she was going to be in for a fight. Many of the civilians around were beginning to leave to call for emergency services upon witnessing a child be attacked, but everyone was too afraid to try and attack the swordswoman. Lynn kicked the dark blue guardian in the stomach, knocking her back. She then quickly got back onto her feet.

"Fine… Have it your way!"


	27. Refusal To Run

**Authors Note: I do apologize dear viewers, my computer had an accident which resulted in a blue screen. Which made me lose all of the light hearted fics progress, I do not know when it will be out.**

Lincoln hit the concrete ground from a blow he took that had sent him flying. The furious Xerest approached, her last three textoth that hadn't been bested by him yet following, while the rest lay there in defeat, slowly turning to dust.

"Freeze! We have you surrounded!" They suddenly heard over a megaphone noticing multiple police vehicles blocking of both sides of the road.

"What a relief…" Lincoln groaned, not sure whether to feel relieved that backup was here or irritated that people were in the way.

"Really? What do I look like to you guys, a costumed moron? I just was having a fun time with my show 'til this brat showed up," Xerest retorted. The police officers appeared to have different orders this time around. They all had their service weapons drawn, some armed with shotguns.

"You need to get out of here! They aren't people! They're monsters and skeletons!" Lincoln shouted. Bullets were not going to be the most useful thing in this situation. He looked down at his clawed gauntlet, surprised how much weaker he felt without his red star.

"This is your final warning! We are not here to negotiate with hostile individuals trying to commit murder and incite riots… Now drop your weapons!" The officer repeated his demand in anger. Xerest reached into her chest and pulled out a joy buzzer. Lincoln recalled falling victim to one too many times from Luan.

"Joy from the sky! Time to make a pig zapper!" Xerest pressed the button. The back half of the police squad were struck out of nowhere by thunder, that seemed to come from nowhere in the clear sky.

"Run!" Lincoln tried to call as he got up to get to cover while Xerest was distracted from him. The front police blockade refused to move, despite the fear in their hearts. They all began to open fire, Lincoln holding his ears as gunshots rang out.

"Ow! Those sting!" Xerest cried. The textoth seemed to get stunned momentarily from each bullet, but they quickly recovered. The trio of jagged scimitar wielding monsters charged for the group of cops.

The first textoth tried to climb over the hood, only to be greeted by a shotgun barrel to its face. One pull of the trigger and the skeletal monster's mask blew to pieces, causing it to disintegrate into dust. The close up firepower was enough to kill it. The officer grunted however when the blade of another textoth dug into his neck, while his partner was wrestling the other one.

"Let him go, skull head!" Lincoln, trying to ignore his own injuries, ran up from behind and stabbed his claws through the back of the first textoth's chest, ripping them out and striking upward. Sparks and smoke flew up as the skeletal monster fell over.

"Th-thanks kid…" the officer thanked Lincoln while holding his neck. The injury was thankfully minimal due to the monster's movements being halted. The cop watched as Lincoln slashed the last textoth off the other cop, the few sparks left behind from its then disintegrating skeletal body.

"Boy howdy! Thanks, young'un! I-I dunno what to do! The chief's done been struck by lightning and we're all that's left of the unit!" the smaller officer complained, his revolver lying beside him while he lay by their squad car. Now that all the textoth were dead, Lincoln could focus on Xerest. The teenager was trying to just catch his breath, having had barely a second to regain his energy.

"You get back in your car and hightail it out of here! All you're doing is making that clown madder!" Lincoln groaned, helping them both up when he saw the giant wooden mallet coming from overhead, "Yikes! Come on! Move!"

They got out of the way as it smashed the squad car like a block of clay, causing it to explode underneath the mallet.

"Is there even a way for me to finish that clown off?" Lincoln mentally cursed himself while the two officers saw Xerest rummage through her chest for another comedic weapon. It was then that Lincoln had an idea.

"Wait…! Xeran Elites are created by essence spheres… What happens if they're destroyed?" Lincoln wondered. Normally it was a priority to gather as many essence spheres as they could, but an exception could always be made. He just had to figure out how he would go about that. Usually the Xeran monsters' very bodies kept the essence spheres safe from the guardians' finisher.

"Kid, what in tarnation are ya doing?!" The first cop asked, the teenage boy taking his service revolver.

"You've seen me fighting those things often. Just trust me on this," Lincoln requested. He had never used a gun before, and it was terrifying to have one in the palm of his hand. Thankfully everyone in the immediate area had evacuated already, so he only had to be worried about breaking a window if he missed.

"I'd say the sergeant is going to kill us for this, but… I think he's dead," the second officer commented. They had watched their sergeant get zapped by that intense thunder.

"Just aim and squeeze the trigger. Don't just fire wildly. You only got six shots," the Texan informed him. Lincoln nodded, taking in a deep breath as he put the revolver in his side pocket, his clawed gauntlet ready. The Loud boy began to make a rush for the side of an alley beside a clothing store.

"This is going to hurt," Lincoln sighed, bashing the emergency door as he entered the clothing store, running through it as fast as he could to get to the other end. Once he finally did reach the other exit, he found Xerest looking around the car wreckage, hunting for him.

"I'm not leaving until you're dead, you pun monster… Then I can continue my shows in peace," Xerest hummed, doubting she had crushed the red guardian under her mallet yet. Lincoln stayed around the corner, spying on her to try and think of where the essence sphere could be.

"Probably in the chest…" Lincoln took in a deep breath, and then ran for Xerest from behind. She turned around upon hearing him and swung at him, but he jumped over, grabbing onto her upper body.

"Not this time!" Lincoln slashed the clown monster in the face, the claw marks left there as scars. Lincoln began to hack and slash away at the Xeran elite's chest. Props and sparks flew out from each claw swipe.

"Ow ow ow!" Xerest cried. Lincoln quickly pulled out his gun and aimed for the brightly colored essence sphere the second he saw it, which spun around rapidly with the mixture of dark essence and the stolen green joy from the audience she had been entertaining earlier.

"This is for insulting Luan!" Lincoln pulled the trigger. The first shot missed, but thankfully the next two landed. The essence sphere cracked violently. Xerest gasped, smashing him away. Lincoln hit his head against a street light, the revolver knocked away. His eye adjusted to the now terrified angry clown. The light from the essence sphere began glowing bright, and the essence itself began spraying out of her like a wild fountain.

"It looks like the jokes on meeeeeee!" Xerest began to cry while she began to wither. Lincoln could only stare in horror as she fell onto her side and exploded. Only a rubber chicken was left from her after her destruction.

"He… hey… I did it… I beat an elite monster without my guardian mode!" Lincoln was proud. Even if the essence sphere was gone and the method was unorthodox, he still won in the end, and now the stolen essence could hopefully return to its people. He could have sworn a lot more had been stolen though.

"Oh, right… the guys who got shocked!" Guardian Red suddenly recalled that the cops he watched be hit by that thunder were unconscious, and most likely critically wounded. The other two cops already were there trying to help them. Lincoln, as he then went to help out, hoped his girlfriend was doing okay with the third guardian.

"What is this sword made of?!" Lynn had morphed into her Guardian Black form, she had tried to use her guardian knuckles and boots to break the blade and disarm the dark blue guardian, but the sword refused to shatter bend or break.

"Most likely a lot more strongly compressed refinement of Gruynithil. Unfortunately the only type of scanners I have in your suits are for your own vital signs," Lisa informed Lynn while watching her from her laptop. The child prodigy was more disgusted to see a prototype of her suit. Dozens of improvements were needed before they even considered letting the dark blue guardian in combat.

"They aren't giving me any ground to work with here!" Lynn complained. The dark blue guardian was constantly slashing and swinging at her. Thankfully she was more than able to block it, but she was left with no opening to counter with.

"I'm going to take some risks," Lynn blocked the next slash and threw a punch to the face of her helmet. The dark blue guardian brought her sword down, landing it on Lynn's shoulder.

"Lynn!" Lisa cried. The dark blue guardian quickly yanked downward, causing a large slash across Lynn's entire upper body, sparks and smoke erupting from the attack.

"I… think I didn't hit hard enough…" Lynn got kicked in the chest that sent out a shock wave of pain as she hit her back on one tree of the many in the park, the tree rattling slightly. But miraculously, something fell from it and landed beside her.

"Hey… it's Lincoln's star!" Lynn grabbed the bright red star that belonged to Lincoln, smiling as she stashed it away. She saw the dark blue guardian approaching, wanting to finish her where she sat.

"Don't do it! Stop!" Lori mentally screamed.

"Lynn, try using your guardian finisher! At worst, we just destroy this guardian's suit," Lisa insisted. She believed there would be no harm or damage to the individual wearing the dark blue suit, if her five second calculations were right.

"Alright… If I miss, at least the only thing that can really happen is I might scare the guardian away… or I lose my star and have to hunt it later," Lynn got up while listening to her sister's instructions. She just hoped she could pull it off.

"Unlocking your security star holder. You should be able to do this on your own afterwards," Lisa declared. After a moment, Lynn watched her guardian suit's front part open up, revealing her black star. She pulled it out, letting it close back as she did. She glared at the dark blue guardian who charged right for her.

"Time for the finish!" Lynn gripped the star tightly, and it began to fill with her black essence. Once ready, she threw it in the air, and then quickly recreated her guardian knuckles and boots.

"Guardian finisher! Star Striker! Engage!" Lynn got into a boxer stance as her black star split into four. The first part fell, and on cue, she punched it. The second and third pieces came down for her, and she quickly roundhouse kicked them. Lastly, she hit the fourth piece with a strong punch.

"Whoa…" Lori mentally stared at the four star parts flying straight for her possessed body. The dark blue guardian blocked the first, before the second hit the knee, the third in the chest and the last against the helmet, cracking it. Sparks and smoke spewed as the dark blue guardian fell back first to the ground.

"Woohoo!" Lynn morphed out of her guardian form, catching her black star now that it had formed back together. She looked down at her and her brotherly boyfriend's stars with a smile.

"Now I just have to drag that third guardian back to my place-eck!" Lynn gasped, feeling her side ache with a sharp pain suddenly. Her head tilted down to see the damage done. The dark blue guardian's sword had been shortened, and was thrown at her like a dagger. Lynn lost grip of both stars, each hitting the ground.

"What did you do?!" Lori was losing it. Lynn pulled the blade out from her side and fell down. Blood covered her palm. Lynn tried to be strong, but she had tears in her eyes from the initial impact startling her.

"I need to… morph again," Lynn grit her teeth while reaching over for her star grabbing Lincolns star by mistake she put the red curved tipped star into her vests opening and closing it, "Guardian mode! Engage!"

Nothing happened. Lynn was confused. She looked down to her black star beside her. This made her realize the mistake. She noticed the dark blue guardian get back up and prepare for the next round.

"I really need to pay more attention…" Lynn opened her vest, planning on just removing her boyfriend's red star, but when she opened it, there was nothing there. It scared her out of her mind, but she would worry about it if, and after she survived.

"We-well… if I put mine in, then it'll come back!" She put her black star into the opening and closed it. She stood up, holding her side. She would stand the pain for another few prolonged moments.

"I'm not going to let you survive this…" the dark blue guardian spoke, not in Lori's tone, but in a more gravelly and strained voice. Lynn struck her pose.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lynn suddenly saw red and black essence explode out from her body, making her stumble back and her heart skip a beat from terror. She could only stare in awe.

"Wh...What's happening?"


	28. Dragons Determination

"Lynn? Lynn! Come in, Lynn! What is going on…?" Lisa murmured while typing away on her laptop, trying to get a response from Lynn after her lifeline monitoring system that kept her vitals in check suddenly went crazy, displaying high heart rate, rapid breathing and a spike in fever.

"That power spike… Did it damage the communicator?" Lisa scratched her chin. She was so deep in thought that she did not even notice Lily beside her, who had followed Cliff the cat into the garage. Lily cooed to her older smart sister.

"Oh… salutations, Lily… Sorry, I'm not able to participate in playtime. I'm preoccupied with another matter," the child prodigy picked up her little sister. Lily hugged her, giggling and looking happy to just be in her sibling's arms. Lisa could only see her as nothing less than sweet.

"Things started going haywire after that power spike. The vital signs are not correct. I can't even check the second guardian suit's power charts after that spike," Lisa explained to the infant Loud, though knew that Lily would not understand a word she said. Even so, having someone to talk to tended to help her think. Lisa suddenly felt Lily tug on her earlobe.

"Ow, that isn't nice Lily," Lisa stated. Lily giggled, grabbing her sister's glasses. After that minor pull and vision obscuring, she had given her an idea. Most of the second guardian suit's systems could not be tracked or viewed at the moment for some reason, but there might be an alternate means of communication. Lisa took her glasses back.

"That's possibly a good idea, Lily… if I just reverse the video recorder transmitter feed, then instead of me just being able to view the fight from their perspective, they should be able to hear me… and see me, I suppose, but that's not important," Lisa rested Lily down on the floor, letting her return to playing with the family cat. Cliff did not care about the infant Loud's interactions. He was just a calm cat most of the time with her.

"A little more to go and it should be ready for when they finish engaging guardian mode," Lisa was just rushing to get ready. She made sure the doors were all locked during so, just in case this was a bit more visually graphic, she wanted to be the only one to see it if that was the case.

"I…It burns so much," Lynn held her chest. The black and red essence that had erupted from her was swirling around her body quite violently. She was on fire right now. The possessive dark blue guardian could only keep its guard up and watch for its own safety, expecting an attack. Lynn held both arms out.

"I'm gonna have to play this by ear… Here we go!" Lynn quickly did one jump spin, rounding up the black and red essence entangling it into her limbs, and she dug both fists on the ground, cracking it and pressing in the earth, scorching it beneath her.

"Guardian mode… Engage," Lynn felt flames on her body as a bright black guardian suit appeared on her, bulkier than the one Lisa had designed. The black color was followed by a light red trim around the edges, and her helmet's spiraling yellow line patterns had gotten a new V shape in edition, and were being filled in by red as well.

"Whoa…" Lynn looked over herself in that new light dark red guardian suit, looking at her gloves and boots which felt so much lighter, but also tougher, watching the essence that once was engulfed on her arms now absorb into her.

"What is this?" The dark blue guardian tilted their head, keeping her blade ready.

"I'm still Guardian Black… But I took some of Lincoln's suit into mine… I think," the second guardian realized, astonished. She smiled, reaching up and putting her hands on her helmet.

"Lock in," she heard a clunking sound before she tapped the side of her helmet, the visor closing instantly. She looked at her somewhat intimidated enemy guardian as she made her guardian knuckles appear. They seemed a lot harder now, and had flames emitting from the back of them, her boots seeming to have similar effect. Her suit now had a scalier texture to it.

"What am I now? I can't call myself Guardian Bled… that'd make people kind of wonder if I'm… well, like Lucy," Lynn scratched her head, unsure what to call herself. The dark blue guardian readied itself.

"Enough stalling!" The enemy guardian swung its sword overhead. Lynn raised her left fist up, bouncing the sword off before she did a quick right jab to her stomach, making her hunch over in stunned agony at how hard the attack was. It felt as strong as a horse kick, but burnt like the horse shoes had just been pulled from fire.

"I'm a lot faster now, just like Lincoln… but still buffer and tougher… maybe Guardian Reck? Then again, it isn't a new suit but more like an alternate mode…" Lynn continued to ponder on her name. The possessed Lori tried to stab at her again in a surprise attack, but the combined guardian jumped up, raising one leg high and bringing it down on her enemy's head with a devastating hammer kick. The possessed Lori's helmet was beginning to crack everywhere from the heavy abuse, erupting with more sparks and smoke from the attack.

"My reflexes are as fast as a cheetahs, and I hit hard like a small bomb, but these scales protect me more… I got it!" The sporty Loud suddenly realized when she kicked the third guardian away, the possessed Lori crashing into the fountain with a grunt of pain.

"Guardian Black: Dragon Mode! Defender of the essence that gives determination to all life!" Lynn struck her pose, raising and stretching her arms beside her like a dragon raising its wings to let out a roar, a small explosion erupted behind her in black and red smoke. The dark blue guardian glared at her.

"Come on Lynn… Finish me already! I'm too much of a threat to our family to live," Lori mentally pleaded, having watched her own body stab her little sister. They had the worst relationship between the two of them out of all the Loud family, but she never had the desire to murder her.

"Lynn! Can you read me?" Lisa chimed in, Lynn seeing a small video of her sibling pop up in the top left of her visor.

"Lisa! I'm feeling great! …I have a little stab wound, but it isn't deep… just scary," Lynn claimed. She would have bled quickly into unconsciousness by now if the stab wound was a problem.

"I can't track any of your suits statistics, and your vital signs are all over the place… What's going on?" Lisa demanded, being able to see through the visor. She was shocked to see the tides of battle turned around.

"Oh! I accidentally used that combination thingy you put in my suit! I combined mine and Lincoln's stars! I feel like… like I was reborn!" Lynn described it the best she could. She felt like she could take on a thousand textoth with her newfound combined power, it almost felt like Lincoln was there fighting with her.

"Combination? I haven't imported a combination system!" Lisa confusedly stuttered, not being heard that clearly. The dark blue guardian picked up its sword up slashing the air twice, making the blue cross shape in the air. The possessed Lori spun around, sending it flying toward Guardian Black.

"Whoa!" Lynn jumped up, punching directly at the center of it, watching the sharp attack be halted by her with ease, seeing it bend around her guardian knuckle and vanish completely, a smoke trail left behind when she landed.

"I don't know what to make of your vitals! Go for the finisher and try to incapacitate the enemy immediately, you could have immense internal injuries that could need immediate aid." Lisa instructed.

"Okay! Let's do this!" Lynn grinned, ready to do her finisher once again. She saw her brother's curve tipped red star appear, split in half and slide down both arms into her gauntlets. Her black star appeared next and split into four pieces before it attached its sharp points to the front of her guardian knuckles.

"Whoa!" Lynn suddenly began to feel the essence begin to get sucked out of her into her weapons. Her guardian knuckles then more resembled blazing spike knuckles with a dragon scaled texture to them. She gained a toothy grin, while the dark blue guardian looked afraid.

"Guardian Finisher! Dragon Boxing! Engage!" Lynn sprinted for her opponent. The possessed Lori put up her guard with her sword as the combined guardian rammed her left knuckle into the sword with the full force of her weight behind her, breaking the blade into two and digging her fist into the dark blue guardian's visor, shattering it to pieces.

"Here we go!" Lynn began spinning around rapidly, letting her guardian knuckles keep hitting her enemy like a blazing tornado. Each punch felt like a fiery knife. The possessed Lori was bashed into the air with a vicious uppercut, sparks and smoke running down her like ribbons as she flew through the air.

"Haaah… haah… whew… That was nuts," Lynn panted, the third guardian landing nearby face first, smoke blazing from her body, her helmet reduced to fragments from the impact of the fall and the last attack.

"Excellent work Lynn! But I would not drop your guard," Lisa advised. Lynn nodded aware that she got stabbed right when she was off guard. Lynn was required to morph back to normal, but she had drained her body of its essence excessively.

"I won. Now stand up. Can you tell me why you just tried to kill me like that?" Lynn called out to the third guardian. They slowly forced themselves back onto their knees. Lynn's eyes went wide. "L…Lori?!"

"Lynn… Please kill me… Please kill me while I somehow have control," Lori begged, tears running down her face. Somehow the harsh beating had given her control of her body, but she doubted it would be for long, only because of the large amounts of essence she had been assaulted with was she in control.

"What are you talking about?! Why aren't you at Bobby's? And how could you stab me?!" Lynn tried to approach her sister, when suddenly the ground in front of her erupted with an explosion, knocking her away and causing her to land on a park bench breaking it in two.

"Ouuuugh…" Lynn felt her back ache worse than most of her football practice games. She feasted her eyes on the fourth Xeran general, BelGaner, who made his grand appearance. His rainbow scarf blowing in the wind as he approached.

"Wh-who are you?!" Lynn forced herself to her feet, the mechanical Xeran monster holstering his flintlock revolver.

"I'm the majesty's fourth general… I am BelGaner, the general of strategy," BelGaner stepped in front of Lori. The defeated guardian mentally asked herself what he could be doing here this time, why he was acting like he was protecting her was another part of the confusion.

"What'd you do to my sister?!" Guardian Black pulled out her cellphone, about to call her boyfriend, when BelGaner quickly drew his gun and spun the chamber.

"Type 1 ammo fire," BelGaner fired a bolt of energy, sniping her phone out of her hand, causing smoke and sparks to erupt as well. The phone landed on the dirt nearby, thankfully not broken, but Lynn's hand was bleeding slightly from the attack.

"I did nothing to her… or you. My cohort Teronzata is the one orchestrating this pitiable plan… I am surprised however to discover your relations to one another. The plan of his to my understanding was to simply distract one guardian, while the other was baited into a one-on-one dual… and then slaughtered," BelGaner explained, "But what was supposed to be a battle in skill, you won with brute strength alone… you guardians are full of surprises, and perhaps we Xeran will never be able to replicate that."

"Then why are you trying to take her away?! I'll let you walk away right now if you leave Lori with me!" Lynn demanded. Lori could only stare at the ground, in too much pain to even move. She could feel her mind drifting away already.

"My condolences, but your sister is nothing more than a puppet whose mind and body was overtaken by the essence of our majesty… As much as I wish to leave her to the dark fate, I simply cannot. If I allow you to take her away, it would be damning my comrade to certain death. This woman, as you can see, is a bargaining token to me," BelGaner spun the chamber of his gun again. Lynn rushed right for him, the general watching her.

"Type 2 ammo fire," he squeezed the trigger and fired, shooting Lynn's waist and freezing her entire lower body in place.

"What the-?! Lori! Run! Get up! Do something!" Lynn called out, though doubted her eldest sister could do anything. She felt horrible for going all out like she did now. All it had done was crippled her sibling from escaping. She watched as BelGaner crouched down beside Lori.

"Come now. It's time we return to our home," BelGaner stated before he picked Lori up bridal style. She did not move or speak, her eyes closed. Lori wanted to keep her own family safe after all. The mechanical Xeran began to walk away from Lynn, spinning the chamber of his gun on his side.

"Type 7 ammo fire," BelGaner shot the air five times, the first four in a circular pattern. Each shot cracked the air until the final shot in the center broke it like fragile glass, creating a portal to the eldritch dimension. "We'll cross paths later, Guardian Black. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintanceship."

"Wait! Get back here! You monster! You freak! You sponger!" Lynn shouted, thrashing to break out of her half block of ice, but was unable to. BelGaner ignored her cursing towards him as he entered the portal with Lori in his arms, and it closed behind them both.

"Lori… I'm sorry…" Lynn could do nothing at this point. She could not even reach her cellphone. She was stuck like this until someone helped her out. Lynn wanted to just tell Lincoln and Lisa right away. She felt horrible for the entire fight, not just this one but all the domestic fights at home while growing up between her and her older sister. She should have known that it would somehow come to this.

"What did I do...?"


	29. Assertive

**Authors Note: Hello all, I just wanted to thank you all for 15,000 views! And the fic nearing 200 reviews, I hope you've all been enjoying it, I have been trying my hardest on it while working on the light hearted fic to the side, yes it is going extremely slowly due to me moving to a new room in the house, which is requiring immense amounts of cleaning and pest control. I hope you all enjoy, and take care.**

"I'm almost there, Lisa," Lincoln hurriedly walked, his many injuries were making him unable to run. He was making his way to the park where his red star and sisterly girlfriend were supposed to be.

"I implore you to expedite this, Lincoln… I lost contact with her a while ago… Luan also came back and was talking about driving a clown insane with puns… I take it that also was related to the Xeran Elite?" Lisa explained, and ended with a question. Luan was terrified when she lost track of her brother. She had spent about two hours hunting for him before going home. Lisa reassured her that he had just gotten separated and was running a personal errand, it did not take much convincing.

"It was. Some people and monsters, really hate puns… Tell me again what happened, before you lost contact with Lynn?" Lincoln almost begged while hearing a car screech to a halt, scaring him, having almost hit him during his travel over the crosswalk. He apologized to the angry driver while continuing on.

"She had initially beaten the third guardian, and then she morphed back to normal… I could not get in contact with her cellphone either," Lisa said while resting in her room, her head hurting a lot. Thankfully the twins were busy and not in the room, Lana was outside in a mud puddle, while Lola was playing dress up with Lily and Leni.

"I couldn't read any of her guardian suits status alerts and her vital signs were all over the place… she told me she had been stabbed, but it was not bad," Lisa finished the explanation as Lincoln neared the park, where he could see a fire truck parked nearby. His eyes followed into the park and quickly widened at what they laid upon.

"I found her! I'll call you back," Lincoln hung up on Lisa with barely any warning before running straight into the park. There he found Lynn still in the frozen block of ice. It had somewhat melted to free her hips, but despite her efforts, she still could not free herself. Thankfully someone called for emergency services for help.

"Oh hey, Lincoln," he heard Jessica Blakesten once again. He was surprised, wondering what she was doing here of all places.

"Hey, Jessica… just a minute, please?" Lincoln went to his girlfriend after lightly greeting Jessica. The firemen were trying to discuss how to go about freeing the sporty Loud.

"Lynn! Are you okay? What happened?!" Lincoln worriedly knelt to his beaten and bruised girlfriend, whose hand and side were bloody, but thankfully the damage was not as bad as it looked.

"Yeah I'm...No… no, I'm not alright, Lincoln," Lynn replied. Her boyfriend could see her fingers gripping the ice in detest. He wanted to hug her, but was worried it would cause her wounds to hurt.

"I can help with that… It's hard to stalk two guardians at once, but the big team fights are worth it for the money the media offers! When I heard there was going to be a third guardian, I was thinking I'd need new partners to record you all," Jessica chimed in while presenting her camcorder, doing her very best like always to stalk these teenagers' heroic efforts to capture on camera, which at least benefited everybody.

"She called the fire department," Lynn said, thankful for the journalist turned reporter for saving her from having to wait all day to thaw out.

"Thank you, Jessica… You don't know how important my family is to me," Lincoln told her while she tried to rewind to the right part of the recording that she wanted to show him. The camcorder had been modified for a lot longer battery life. He could safely guess she was filthy rich now, because of them.

"Don't mention it. You guys are my living anyway… Here ya go," Jessica handed over the camcorder to the young boy, letting him view for himself, since Lynn seemed too distraught and angry to explain everything herself.

"Whoa…" Lincoln watched the fight between the two guardians. It was toward the end of it when the dark blue guardian's helmet had been destroyed, revealing Lori beneath it.

"L…Lori?! What is she doing with the Xeran?!" Lincoln asked as the recording ended after BelGaner came along and took his oldest sister away. He never had seen that Xeran general before either, which just made it all the more scary.

"I hurt her so bad… She just couldn't move. He picked her up and carried her away…" Lynn took in a breath and exhaled, frustrated with herself. Her brotherly boyfriend returned the camcorder to Jessica, before he went over and hugged his girlfriend.

"It's not your fault, Lynn. There's a lot going on here, that we don't know about…" Lincoln reassured, "We need to go talk to Lisa about all of this."

"A…alright… but first…" Lynn then presented his red curve tipped star to him.

"Hey! You found it!" Lincoln happily took the red star and put it into the opening in his gauntlet, hearing it close tight. He aimed lower for her leg gauntlet and began spraying fire out, quickly melting the ice and freeing Lynn's lower body.

"Ohhh… that feels a lot better… thanks," Lynn stretched, trying to wake her legs up since they had not moved in a while. They felt nothing but cold and numbness.

"Ahh, it's nothing," Lincoln popped his red star back out from the back of his guardian gauntlet and pocketed it.

"Come on. We should get home. We need to tell Lisa about this… That and I found something pretty awesome out about our stars!" Lynn informed him. Lincoln wondered what she meant as he had not paid too much attention to that video, aside from Lori. They hated to burden their prodigal sister constantly, but sadly they had no one else to turn to for any of these issues that kept cropping up.

"Wait… if Lori got taken by the Xeran… then who's with Bobby and Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln questioned. The Loud siblings both seemed to gain the same train of thoughts that quickly connected to the same realization. Jessica barely had looked down a minute, and when she looked up, the two teens were gone without so much as a goodbye.

"Sheesh, since when were kids so rude to their stalkers?"

"Well this is a weird position. Why are you doing this again…?" Ronnie was seated in front of her wardrobe's mirror. Lori stood behind her, brushing her hair. Ronnie Anne only agreed because her brother said that Lori might just be trying to bond better with their family, and since their parents were rarely around, it made sense that she would try to bond with his only sister.

"Because sweetie, it's full of tangles and I know it feels better to have someone else take care of your hair for you," Lori hummed. Ronnie Anne disliked having her hair flowing freely and out of its ponytail. The only times she allowed that was during her showers. She still did not like being referred to as sweetheart, all of it was creeping her out.

"Stupid Bobby, leaving me alone with her so he can go to work…" Ronnie Anne could only spitefully think. Recalling how long had Lori stayed, and wondering how long she was going to stay was beyond her. Whatever fight occurred between her and Lincoln was being blown out of proportion.

"Maybe I should call his house," Ronnie Anne thought. Lincoln had been ignoring her texts and phone calls for some odd reason. She wondered if she had upset Lincoln in some way to get him to ignore her, which was way out of character for him. Perhaps she had inadvertently pushed him too far. It was then that Ronnie Anne heard rapid knocking on the front door.

"…wait here," she told Lori, just wanting to be cautious, and she entered the living room. On top of the heavy knocking, she recognized the voices behind the front door.

"Ronnie Anne! Open up!" Lincoln called out loud.

"It's an emergency!" Lynn declared, "If you don't open the door, we'll break it down!"

"Is my house on fire or something?" Ronnie Anne quirked an eyebrow and looked around. Nothing was wrong that she could immediately tell or hear. She unlocked the front door and opened it, and she was grabbed by four hands and yanked outside.

"Whoa!"

"Ronnie Anne! Are you alright?" Lincoln worriedly asked while Lynn stepped into the Santiago home, her guard rose to its fullest.

"Well, you just gave me a headache and your sister is waiting on me hand and foot, so I guess I'm 50-50 on the whole thing," Ronnie Anne replied. Lincoln had never seen her with her hair like this. It made her look so different, he found it nice really.

"I mean is Lori here? Right now?" Lincoln asked, while Lynn explored the Santiago house to hunt for their oldest sister.

"She's in my room probably waiting for me to get back…" Ronnie Anne huffed in frustration. She wondered why it was all such a big deal. "Why are you so scared about it?"

"Lori got kidnapped by those monsters earlier today! Apparently wherever they're set up is where she actually is."

"…come again, Lame-o?" Ronnie Anne quirked an eyebrow. They suddenly heard Lynn scream as Ronnie Anne's bedroom window got shattered. The two saw her land on the piles of leaves outside, sending them scattering into the air.

"Lynn!" Lincoln hopped off the front porch, rushing to his girlfriend. She had long claw marks on her left arm radiating with heat. Her guardian vest sadly unable to stop the blow, neither were her durable gloves since she got caught off guard.

"I-I'm fine… just lucky someone raked today… b-but look!" Lynn pointed to the very window she had been thrown from. There they saw Lori standing there without a scratch on her, having hopped out of the window, she had thrown Lynn out after she tried to confront her.

"So it's some fake monster thingy? Great… that makes things all the creepier," Ronnie Anne commented while coming to the two Loud siblings, having connected the dots on this one already. Before the Xeran came along the Santiago girl would have never believed it, but now she believed nothing could surprise her.

"Guess I can quit with this now," the fake Lori reached up and put a palm on its own face. Its body surrounded with dark purple essence until it was absorbed away, somehow it had transmuted the essence into an alternate physical form. The fake's body changed into one of a taller and lankier textoth in its red and green striped body.

"A talking textoth?" Lincoln tilted his head.

"A talking textoth that counterfeited as Lori…?" Lynn quirked.

"A talking skeleton that counterfeited as Lori and probably did something horrible to Bobby…!" Ronnie Anne growled.

"I am a member of the elite textoth. We serve whatever our masters and the majesty desires," the elite textoth saluted, prepared for battle. A loud snap sounded as it got bigger, while gaining a hunched position.

"What's it doing?" Ronnie Anne quirked, somewhat scared by the sounds it was making. t It sounded all too similar to a lot of horror movies she watched growing up.

"The same thing as most monsters… Showing its personal trick," Lincoln claimed. They saw long bony claws extend from each finger from the elite textoth's hands, lines of spikes beginning to emerge up its arms and down its legs in random pattern. Its arms began cracking and snapping, becoming longer as it grew taller, its limbs looking to be barely connected now.

"If they start sending these things out on mass… I'm going to need a break," Lynn rubbed her head, not able to imagine dealing with dozens of these elite textoths.

"Ronnie Anne, you need to get away from here," Lincoln claimed while his clawed gauntlet was prepared. The three long claws shimmered in the sunlight. Lynn got into her kickboxing stance. Neither of them could morph, as they were tired and their essence was drained.

"I'm not going to run! This thing was making out with my brother for the past few days!" Ronnie Anne wanted to step up, but Lincoln glared to her while putting a hand on her chest, halting her movement and stunning her momentarily.

"I'm serious! You have to get out of here! We've never dealt with something like this before, and we don't need you to end up getting in the way and winding up hurt, or worse! Whether you like it or not, I'm going to protect you. I don't care whatever your stupid reason is for wanting to stand up for yourself. Now go! I'll call you back when it's safe."

Ronnie Anne was immensely irritated with him. She never had seen her ex-boyfriend angry or expressing it, or even standing up to her at all. His eyes were like piercing daggers, insulting her own personal moral was another nerve struck by him.

"Fine… I'll watch in case I need to call police for help, just to make sure you only have one foot of your intestines ripped out instead of all five feet."

Ronnie Anne got away just as he ordered, going to hide at a neighbor's house until things calmed down.

"Here we go," Lynn saw the monster lunge at them on all fours, they dodged the attempt to claw them. The elite textoth dug its hands into the ground and spun fast, hitting them both with its legs and knocking them away like a crazy break dancer.

"Ow! This things flexible…" Lincoln held his sore ribs, surprised at how fast on its feet this elite goon was.

"Wait, Lincoln…! We don't have to go into guardian form completely! Just give our weapons their full strength," Lynn pulled out her black star. The elite textoth was trying to free its bony claws from the dirt, having embedded them in a rock by mistake. Lincoln pulled out his red star.

"Here we go!" Lincoln inserted his red star into the back of his gauntlet, hearing it close. Lynn put the black star into her then open vest and clapped it closed. She watched the guardian knuckles and boots appear on her.

"This is going to be harder without our guardian modes… but oh well. let's do this!" Lynn grinned, clashing the knuckles together. The teenage couple rushed at the elite from both sides, and that monster plucked its hands free from the ground and caught both of their attempted attacks.

"Grah!" The monstrous textoth let go when Lincoln made his guardian gauntlet spew out a wave of fire, a fun feature he was now finding useful. He spun around and slashed the lanky textoth in the stomach, sparks and smokes erupting while stunning it.

"You're up, Lynn!" Lincoln turned around, putting his palms together. Lynn went and placed one foot onto his hands, and he quickly tossed her up into the air as high as he could. The elite monster felt both guardian knuckles dig into its face as it got crushed into the ground.

"Did… did that do it in?" Lynn panted. The elite textoth was stuck lying still in an odd posture lying completely still. Lynn slowly got off the elite textoth, whose head was flattened now by the strong attack.

"Ouch… You crushed its skull," Lincoln claimed. Just like zombies, destroying the head seemed to do the job, the only difference was textoth had nothing but bones and no brains. They removed their stars, making their weapons go back to normal watching the elite textoth begin to disintegrate into dust.

"A bit of teamwork, huh?" Lynn smirked, stretching. She then felt his arms wrap around her.

"We are the best team!" Lincoln proudly announced. Lynn was just happy to see him become more assertive, and she returned his embrace. Today had been rough, but they had not really gotten any real victories beyond beating that Xeran elite monster, as long as Lori was gone it was one long constant loss to them.

"…okay… I am jealous," Ronnie Anne confessed mentally, watching the two kissing. She was not even denying it to herself anymore. How she was going to explain the broken window and all that had happened to Bobby was going to be another issue. Ronnie Anne sighed and approached the two.

"I'll worry about that later… I guess I should go thank my 'heroes'."


	30. Defiance

**Authors Note: I apologize dear viewers, for yesterdays awful chapter. I worked very hard on it, and spent extra time as well, but sadly no one seems to have liked it. That's something I have noticed with this fic, the longer it goes on the less people seem to enjoy it...Whether that be because of the personal choices I've made in it, or just the general premise. I must ask do you want me to continue it? I am very saddened to see something I loved to be well, met with such dislike. The light hearted fic I'm working on is still nowhere near done.**

The sound of a harmonica echoed throughout the Xeran castle. Zeggfor dragged Teronzata behind him, as their majesty had ordered them to bring the living plant swordsman to the bone filled room. Upon arrival the grey horned Xeran general threw him to the center of the room.

"Ough…" Teronzata groaned, seeing Mirayu standing beside the majesty. BelGaner stopped playing his golden harmonica, putting it away. Lori stood beside him, her head angled toward the floor after having lost her mind to the majesty's essence. Zeggfor stayed behind the swordsman while textoth guarded the room.

"What is the meaning of this? You know it isn't good to interrupt the best swordsman in the world's slumber!" Teronzata looked over to his non-morphed apprentice. She had the three pointed light blue star in her hands, just staring at it intensely.

"Teronzata, every step and part of your plan failed and has fallen through, all we have done is waste time… you attempted to gain essence as well, but sadly, the textoth carrying it had been destroyed before they could relinquish it to one of the generals," the majesty began, aware of Xerest and how she had failed to turn over the joy essence she had gathered before being beaten by Lincoln. The plant man took off his top hat.

"Oh dear… I did not anticipate that she would actually be assaulted. I was hoping Xerest's kind and comedic charm would keep her safe… That was my miscalculation," Teronzata stated. That part of his plan at least was good and logical. The guardians would have not laid a scratch on the monster at all, if not for her dying hatred for puns that made her go crazy.

"Your apprentice did nothing but waste time, too… She lost the battle when the second Guardian unveiled a new form," Zeggfor added while presenting the remains of the shattered helmet. Lori no longer could transform, as she would wind up in a broken suit that would fall apart.

"Is this where I die…?" The blonde mentally asked herself, so far glad her body was not doing anything crazy with her also broken weapon. She doubted that they would send her out anymore. The material they used to make her guardian outfit and weapon from was long since used up.

"What?! This cannot be! I trained her with the most gracious of styles! I taught her my secret skills! Why did she not use any of them?! They would have made her win instantly!" Teronzata demanded in disbelief. His apprentice did not respond to any of those claims, mainly because as a glorifiedpuppet she seemingly only responded to the majesty.

"You taught her primarily swordplay and the scatter technique, nothing more… I remember so from our sparring session," BelGaner declared, watching from the side as bright bindings were shot from the majesty's hand. They wrapped around Teronzata's limbs tightly. Zeggfor stepped away, aware that this was going to get messy, as he tossed the broken helmet to the bone piles with no care.

"I gave you this chance. You promised a guardian's head in my hands, and their essence to be made as a trophy of a new heart… You couldn't even bring me a drop of essence! I believe it's time I be rid of you for your failure to bring me a single thing to show any form of accomplishment!" The majesty began to pull Teronzata apart, his vine limbs snapping and pulling as he cried in pain.

"Type six ammo, fire," the bright bindings were pierced by speeding energy blasts, that wound up whizzing by and blasting into the wall nearby. BelGaner stood with the smoking barrel of his flintlock revolver. Teronzata crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

"What is the meaning of this?!" The majesty stood up. Zeggfor and Mirayu were about to get involved when the mechanical general spoke up.

"You're wrong, your majesty. He brought us something very important, a safety precaution that will keep the enemy from ever threatening to impede us again," BelGaner grabbed Lori, presenting her to the Xeran's ruler.

"What can this puppet do?" The majesty asked, unimpressed, while putting a hand on her head. It terrified Lori mentally, but her body did not react, just being pushed around and moved freely.

"She's related to those two guardians… As astronomically impossible as it sounds, I confronted Guardian Black and she confirmed it for me when I saved Teronzata's apprentice," BelGaner explained while his friend lay on the floor, looking to them, wondering if he really had somehow recruited a beloved relative to the two opposing guardians. The majesty pondered on this, for a while.

"…Hmm… I'll spare Teronzata for this. Even if it was a mere stroke of luck, it is a grand binding on our enemy's ability to fight," the majesty returned to his throne.

"Can we help plan attacks with her on our side?" Mirayu chimed happily. She and Zeggfor wanted to offer their immediate plans to put the oldest Loud to use.

"None of you are going to be entrusted with this… The only one I will give this task to, is the general of strategy," the majesty declared. BelGaner nodded, coming over and helping Teronzata up.

"I will handle it your majesty. Do not fear," the mechanical monster began to leave with his injured friend and the mind wiped Lori.

"Why are you going so far out of your way to protect me? It's one thing to save your friend… But there's a million other ways to safely do that. It's insane to risk your own life to protect both of us," Lori pondered confusedly, not that either of the two could hear her thoughts. Teronzata was next to unconscious while his limbs were beginning to regenerate and repair with more vines, but he was going to need rest to completely heal from the Majesty's punishment.

"I never designed your guardian suits, let alone your weapons to combine or the likes…" Lisa looked over the red and black stars in the garage, not able to wrap her head around this at all. Essence may be produced from the human body, but this seemed impossible. One guardian suit should not have been able to absorb two stars and take on traits of another guardian suit.

"I can't explain it… I put the wrong star in and it vanished. I was hoping if I put my star in it would reappear, but things went crazy after that," Lynn explained the incident, while Lincoln was treating her injuries to the best of his ability.

"But when I was in dragon mode I… I felt like Lincoln was there with me and giving me his strength. I know it sounds dumb, but if he hadn't lost his star, I'd be dead right now," Lynn explained. Lincoln was glad to be of help in any way, even if it was just spiritually, but all he could do was look to her.

"I only wish I was there for you, in person," Lincoln shook his head. He felt horrible for every injury she received. He may have gotten a lot more bruises and most likely cracked bones, but Lynn had been stabbed, slashed and cut, both of them immensely drained from all of the chaos today.

"As much as you both have gone through today… sadly, none of this is anything we can regularly use… I imagine it burns up a lot of essence of two types instead of just one. Either way our priority right now should be figuring out how to save Lori," Lisa returned their stars to them, and they put them away, now that Lincoln was done treating his girlfriend. The couple just had no idea how to go about this.

"You're right… So how do we do it?" Lynn questioned.

"I have no idea… for once my immensely large mind is unable to comprehend or come up with a plan to save her," Lisa explained in her own anxiety. It was always dreadful whenever she could not come up with anything, and she tended to become depressed as result, even if she didn't show it.

"It doesn't help that she's possessed… Why else would she have fought me like that, only to then beg for me to kill her?" Lynn wondered aloud, her brotherly boyfriend presuming the same thing. Lori was either completely insane now or was being controlled against her will. The latter seemed more likely with the Xeran in the picture.

"The way they control her may be through essence as well…" Lisa took her glasses off and sat back in her chair, "But essence is based off of emotions. I don't think there's an emotion that you could over inflate or shrink to make the person change 100%."

"Wait… That's it! What if there is no essence being allowed to grow or shrink at all? What if they put that dark gunky essence inside of her like that elite textoth used to disguise as her? Maybe it trapped all of her emotions by locking them away?" Lincoln explained. Those that tended to have no emotions were either true monsters, or worthless beings. Xeran thereby had a very easy method to control emotionless husks.

"Lincoln! That's brilliant! It might be the only theory we have…" Lisa then sighed, after that tiny burst of joy, "But even now we hit the wall, and impressively hard."

"What? Can't we just rip it out somehow? I did it," Lynn stated, remembering how she temporarily snapped Lori back to normal after using dragon mode.

"Because unlike the Xeran, we can't inject and remove essence from others whenever we want," Lisa retorted. The only reason why they doubted that the Xeran took away Lori's essence was because so far none of the Louds had been able to have their essence stolen. It would be too big of a coincidence to be just Lincoln and Lynn being immune to the attempts to steal their essences, doubting the fact they were guardians had any hand in it.

"She's right… Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to wait and let my essence replenish," Lincoln understood. If he could take others essences freely, then he wondered if he would do it regularly to just bypass waiting. He knew risking hurting lives and off setting people's emotions would not be a heroic thing to do.

"…We have that one empty sphere, right?" Lynn questioned.

"Of course," Lisa nodded. The empty essence sphere was locked away tight in her room, just as it was when they had left. "I see what you're getting at… I'll see what I can do, but I'm a scientist. Not a miracle worker."

"You make the science, we make the miracles. That's how it works, the last time I checked," Lincoln grinned, gaining a smile from their intelligent sibling. Right now, the three wanted to get dinner before the long night ensued. They would do their best to help Lisa whatever way they could. They needed her help to come up with very elaborate lies for their injuries, hopefully they would get by without much interrogation or hassle.

"I still don't understand why Ronnie Anne hit me like that," Lincoln muttered. After they had saved his ex-girlfriend's life, she had thanked them, before giving him a swift knee in the stomach, it wound up making him vomit.

"Force of habit or natural reflex?" Lynn guessed, not wanting to pay much attention to it since it seemed like a normal reaction for someone who had been living with a monster for days on end to do, take the fear out on someone else in a form of anger. Lincoln wondered if it had anything to do with that last test that they took, the one that he failed to answer completely. He predicted a C- if he was lucky.

"Let's just get dinner and some rest. School's going to be rough tomorrow…"


	31. Demoralized

**Authors Note: Thank you all for your support, I appreciate knowing that this fic is liked. I am trying my hardest to write for it, the light hearted fic however I have not had any chance to write for due to time constraints. And to the, we'll say 'eager' reviewer constantly requesting yo-kai watch/loud house crossover, please I am not interested in that series at all, and have no intentions of getting involved, my apologies. Enjoy.**

"Dude, you're freaking out for nothing. Just because you didn't answer the last few questions doesn't mean you're going to fail the test automatically," Clyde and Lincoln were seated in the cafeteria. Lincoln was barely touching his food.

"I know, Clyde… Sorry, I got a lot more on my mind other than the test," Lincoln apologized. They would find out the test results when they got to the very class when lunch ended, Lincoln was ready to just get it over with. If he failed, his parents would not be happy with him. If he barely passed, his parents would still not be happy with him.

"Oh… Is this over Ronnie Anne?" Clyde quirked after swallowing another bite of his food, worried for his brotherly friend when he saw how hurt he was. Lincoln had told him it was not his ex-girlfriend's doing, but his best friend refused to believe it.

"That's one thing on the list," Lincoln nodded. Ronnie Anne was the least of his worries. His mind was trying to think up ways to save Lori. Lisa had so far made no breakthroughs with the hollow essence sphere, beyond causing a neighborhood-wide power surge for an hour with her rough testing.

"This is the first time I've really seen you down in a while… It's really weird," Clyde hated seeing his best friend sad in any regard. Lincoln had been so bright and cheerful recently from becoming Guardian Red. Clyde though, not knowing about his heroic identity, just presumed that Ronnie Anne had depressed him in a way.

"Lori ran away, that's all, Clyde…" Lincoln had made up a lie with Lynn and Lisa's help to cover for the oldest Loud while she was missing. Due to Lori's age, she could legally 'vanish' whenever she wanted to as long as there was no sign of assault or kidnapping. No one in their family took it well, the entire Loud house was in varying insanity levels that night.

"What?! Dude! Did Bobby dump her or something?" Clyde asked. At one point, he had a huge obsession with Lori. After a while, and when Lincoln stumbled upon one too many shrines, he gave his best friend a harsh reality check that broke him out of his obsession for the oldest Loud.

"No clue… Just left a note saying she'd be back when she felt like it. There's no response from her cellphone and her voice mail is full," Lincoln answered, pushing his food tray away. Lisa was great at forging others' handwriting, so she left a lie-filled letter by Lori. After finding that letter, it was minutes before Lori's voice mails got flooded by the many family members. Thankfully, Lincoln at least had been able to swear Ronnie Anne to secrecy after she kneed him in the stomach when they saved her life.

"I'm sorry, dude… She'll be back soon," Clyde reassured.

"Thanks, Clyde," Lincoln gave a feigned smile, feeling horrible. He wanted Lori back, but at the same time he was worried if he saw her again, she would try to kill him. The fight they had a few days back still rung in his head, as if it left a strong mental impression in his head, even if she was possessed during it.

"I'm going to class early. It'll be starting in five minutes anyway," Lincoln stated, knowing Lynn was in the gym training again, it was now her regular routine at school to spend her lunchtime exercising and training instead of eating, despite her boyfriend pleading to take it easy while she healed. Clyde stood up with him as he was done eating anyway.

"You mentioned something about Luna and Lynn this morning, right?" Clyde tried to change the topic as they began their walk down the school hall, thinking that talking about his best friend's other sisters would help him cheer up and take his mind away from Lori's disappearance.

"Hm? Oh yeah… Luna actually impressed someone from another rock band, so they're going to do her a favor let her perform as their opening act, in a few days." Lincoln explained. Luna had somehow run into another rock lover. He could not remember the band name, as most rock bands seemed to choose the most random collaboration of names.

"Really? Wow… talk about lucky. And what about Lynn? She break something again?" Clyde asked, having not yet seen her today to know if she was healthy or not. The teenage boys stood outside of the classroom for history class.

"Well… It's kind of more about both of us. Ever since those weird Xeran monster things appeared in town, we haven't exactly felt the safest… So we started sleeping together for comfort's sake. Lynn wants to make it a permanent thing," Lincoln explained while scratching his head, describing the Xeran the same way a fearful civilian normally would. He and his girlfriend and had not spent a night apart ever since they got together.

"I thought you had Bun-Bun for that," Clyde commented. Lincoln was a bit embarrassed whenever his precious hand-me-down was brought up.

"Bun-Bun helps, but not as much as a warm body and a beating heart," Lincoln looked down to his guardian gauntlet. If Lynn was trying to subtlety move into his room, than he was certainly not able to tell, now he wondered if he should be terrified. He would be pondering that longer if there wasn't too much on his mind already.

"Nice try, but Lucy still tops you in poetry… y'know, when it isn't about death," Clyde laughed, Lincoln could not help but to laugh lightly as well, the comment was far too true. The bell then rang a few moments after, and the classroom door opened. The teacher stood there, surprised to see the two already.

"Oh, hello boys. You're extremely punctual today," the history teacher for their grade was a blonde young man in his early thirties, but he had this odd aura of nervousness. They knew he was the newest teacher in the school, so they guessed he was a generally new graduate of teaching college. The teacher was relieved when he discovered the class he was going to be teaching, turned out to be mainly well-behaved teenagers.

"Sorry, Mr. Cossert. We finished lunch early and wanted to see our test results," Clyde claimed. Their teacher understood. Waiting all weekend for results would make anyone anxious.

"Well come on in. I'm sure your fellow classmates will be here soon," Cossert let the two enter, leaving the door open for the other students for when they arrived. After they were seated at their desk, both of the teenagers were handed their test results.

"Alright!" Clyde smiled, having gotten an A that was great in his book. His fathers would be happy to hear this.

"I got a B+?" Lincoln was surprised, scratching his head.

"You answered all the answers but one correctly… You probably would've gotten an A- if you had finished the test, but either way, great work," Mr. Cossert informed. Guardian Red was just amazed to have an actual good grade. History was not even one of his better subjects.

"Congrats, Lincoln! Has Lisa been tutoring you?" Clyde asked jokingly.

"Uhhhh… no," Lincoln shook his head. The last thing Lisa taught him was how to mix chemicals correctly. Instead he did a lot more reading during his times of rest and peace. He should be able to recall his relaxed studying, but the recent chaos must have made it slip his mind.

"I'll just enjoy the win…" Lincoln said, while seeing the rest of their classmates come in to continue their daily routine. He hoped the genius Loud would have something for them when they got back home.

"Here, BelGaner, another one of my hearts. Use it wisely."

BelGaner stood before the castle throne, the majesty handing over another one of his hearts that was filled with dark purple essence, it twirled and spun violently as usual. The other Xeran generals were here, too, aside from Teronzata who currently was resting, he was currently being watched over by Lori.

"Thank you your majesty," the mechanical Xeran stated, having gotten his plan made in mind. He now needed to go and execute it, for this plan he was going to need a Xeran Elite to aid him.

"Your majesty! Let one of us accompany him and aid him with this! We can be of use! Only using one general at a time is a poor decision," Zeggfor spoke up, wanting to be of aid. He did not care if he had to take orders or not. He would do anything to get back out there and hunt down Guardian Red.

"Don't you remember, Zeggfor? We failed to conquer the last dimension, because when I allowed you four fools to go together, you all began fighting over essence… You all wanted to get more than the rest to try and impress me, and all you did was anger me and cost us a dimensional battle, that set us in the position we are in now," the majesty reminded them angrily. Most of the generals somehow believed that whoever had the most essence would win the majesty's respect. The opposite happened and it had cost them the entire war with that aforementioned dimension.

"Ohhh…" Mirayu whined, recalling all that sweet essence stolen from them when they were banished to this eldritch realm, before they were able to just transport their entire castle and Xeran race to whatever dimension they were going to conquer with no warning, but now they no longer had anywhere near the essence required, as well as the means to send out entire armies.

"The birds that squawk for their prey will never get away," BelGaner declared. A portal then opened before him. The mechanical Xeran looked at the majesty's heart, and he stepped into the portal and vanished.

"It's time to start my plan."


	32. Gambling Man?

"Hmm… so far nothing fitting to my plan is coming in sight," BelGaner tapped his chest with one finger while trying to think, looking for a set of items. He was walking through a small rundown part of town, one part of few in Royal Woods that could be labeled a dangerous neighborhood.

"Hm?" BelGaner stopped, noticing three men resting on a set of stone steps and tossing cards from their position into an upside down red fedora. So far out of the approx fifty cards in the two decks they had between the three of them, only six cards had made it into the overturned hat.

"That shall work," the general of strategy approached the three men and caught their attention. All of them were not afraid of him, as he really did not look like a monster as much as a cyborgized human.

"Can we help you? We're on break," one of the three men asked, here to clean off the rooftops of messes left by party goers as it happened after every weekend. Since police did not care much for the dangerous neighborhoods, the more unsafe parties were held there.

"Yes, I believe you can," BelGaner took the stack of playing cards from the man, going over and scattering them into the fedora. He pulled out the essence sphere, dangling it over the overturned half full of cards fedora before dropping it in. A few cards were knocked out by the majesty's heart.

"What the-?!" The men got up and immediately ran away when they saw the hat and the cards begin swirling into the air, and the essence sphere floating up. The combination forged a monster that looked sleek with a red and yellow coloring to him, donning a long, similarly colored trench coat, the fedora set on his head, and an ace sticking out from the lining of the hat.

"Gamban… it is a pleasure to meet you," BelGaner greeted. The newly created Xeran elite took his hat off and bowed.

"Thank you, master BelGaner. What can I do for you?" Gamban requested while tossing the hat back onto his head. The majesty's general began to walk with the gambling monster beside him.

"I have a plan in mind, but in order to do it, I need an aid… a game master, you could perhaps say," BelGaner declared while making their way through the empty streets. Everyone was either at work or inside, and didn't care about what was outside their windows at this very minute.

"A game? Gambling is my specialty! I can help you make the best games!" The monster clapped, more than eager to be of help to his masters plans. Sadly the Xeran elite could tell the general had other ideas in mind.

"And like most games, we need something to help prepare it all… Go get essence the best way you know how, subtlety, but if those guardians try to get in your way, just remind them that their precious sister is in our humble abode," BelGaner ordered, while informing the new monster what to do in the event of an interception by guardian red and black. Neither should happen if things went correctly.

"Don't worry," Gamban tilted his fedora down, when dark purple essence began to surround him. The Xeran elite transformed into a humanoid form, now disguised as a tan colored middle aged man in a trench coat with a goatee and black hair. The fedora looked very fitting for the disguise.

"Excellent," BelGaner separated from his elite troop, both going off to begin attending to their own parts of preparations for the games they were going to set up for the two guardians. Every good plan had to take time to be set, and every player had to bring something to wager of course. BelGaner hoped that Gamban would not face many interruptions and could gather a good amount of essence.

"Are you sure you want to come to my karate class? Or do you just want to laugh at how bad I am?" Lincoln asked. He and Lynn walked along the sidewalk, holding each others hands.

"Lincoln, my soccer practice got canceled. I thought it was worth the time meeting your karate teacher and the other students. What are you so afraid of? I've seen you in a dozen fights before," Lynn retorted. Sadly her soccer practices tended to get canceled often because of the coach getting hurt. He was just an unlucky person all around.

"Well… y'see the classes had three courses offered. Special Focuses, the teacher said, for offense, defense and speed," Lincoln explained. It sounded odd, but it worked. Some people did not want to learn so much, and instead wanted specifics. Most karate teachers would implore their pupils to not use karate for violence, but the Loud boy's teacher was the exact opposite on that note.

"…you signed up for defense?" Lynn guessed.

"Yes…" Lincoln nervously nodded. Lynn sighed, not surprised. The defensive karate course was based on primarily reflex, therefore she understood why Lincoln wanted to learn how to improve on being protective, since they had both been getting hurt a lot.

"I just want to be able to protect everybody better… I learn some offensive stuff too from the other students," Lincoln explained. It was an obvious difference between observing someone else performing the moves than learning them himself.

"Well here we are," he said as they arrived to a small building. The window gave a view inside to some pupils doing slow movements, to get themselves familiar with the movements for the current move they were practicing. Others were beating up on dummies and a few were doing intense exercising with sets of weights strapped to certain parts of their bodies.

"Looks pretty good," Lynn commented. So far everyone here seemed pretty decently motivated. The two had their cellphones' volume turned to max just in case Lisa called them in an emergency Xeran appearance.

"Lincoln! You're late," they heard and saw a tall man with decently long blonde hair, wearing a karate gi and a black belt around his waist. Lynn noted how weird this karate teacher seemed. His body was muscular but it seemed more or an accidental cover for whatever he was trying to hide.

"Sorry Master Jerold. I got caught up in something at school… Uh… this is one of my sisters I mentioned," Lincoln introduced Master Jerold to Lynn. She offered to shake his hand, but instead wound up getting her entire hand crushed in his giant hand before the shaking.

"Ow…" she murmured. The guardian gear did nothing to protect against intense handshakes.

"You're one of the ten keeping Lincoln on his toes? It's a good life to be able to grow up with a large family… it keeps you constantly moving. Lincoln certainly stuck out amongst most of my students here so far, because of his reflexes," Master Jerold explained. Lincoln had talked about his sisters to his classmates before, and guessed his karate teacher had overheard him. He never knew how dodging ten sisters daily for various things could translate in any way to good karate skills.

"It's more like hundreds keeping him on his toes… But yeah," Lynn stated, referencing the Xeran threat that had them always on guard. Lincoln felt his master rub his head.

"Go get changed. Your weights are set up in the usual place," Jerold ordered.

"Alright, master," Lincoln went off ahead.

"Hey, I have a black belt in kickboxing. Would you mind if I joined in for this class?" Lynn requested, still trying to put her finger on what was so weird about this teacher.

"Sorry, but I can only handle so many pupils at once… You got one black belt. No matter how many classes of other fighting styles you take, you're only going to get better if ya make up your own moves," Master Jerold responded, while giving her a piece of advice. Lynn never had thought of it that way before. She mainly wanted to just participate in the class with her boyfriend, but she understood why she was denied. Though she did technically make up her own style, if dragon boxing counted.

"Thanks… Mind if I ask how long you've been teaching karate?" Lynn took a seat on a nearby bench by the window. It appeared all of the students were following their instructions. Otherwise their sensei would not spare her any of his time.

"Probably about four days now," Master Jerold rubbed his head and brushed some of the hair out of his eyes, "This place belonged to my master, but he left it to his son. But his son never took up karate, so I stepped up and took over."

"Oh… I'm sorry… what happened to your master?" Lynn hated to press matters, but she was curious. She would back off if he wanted her to not pry where she shouldn't. She would have not been able to train in kickboxing if her teacher had died midway through the path of lessons.

"No idea… Some weirdoes in costumes during a riot in the shopping district attacked him. He was in the hospital for about two days before he suddenly stopped breathing, and they weren't able to revive him," Master Jerold sighed. He was by his master's hospital bed during that last breath, which was a scar to his mind. Lynn was stunned at the mentioning of the first Xeran assault downtown.

"I thought that Guardian Red saved everyone," Lynn wondered if he had some grudge against her brother for not being able to save his master's master, somewhat glad for the secret identities now. The Xeran knew their identities most likely, but the world at large might react differently to the news of whom these guardians were.

"It wasn't that guardian's fault my master died. It was just my master's fault for rushing in head first like always… he was trying to help, I suppose, but he was always odd like that," Jerold claimed. Lynn had been told of the events that transpired there by Lisa and Lincoln. Zeggfor may not have gotten away with bundles of essence, but he did get away with a small portion. It must have been enough to kill Jerold's master.

"Sorry for the wait!" Lincoln called out while coming back in a gi with a white belt, with ten pound weights strapped to his forearms and legs, the usual regiment for the course of training he chose.

"You're excused. Just go start on the basics," Master Jerold ordered.

"You do tell your students karate is meant for self-defense, right?" Lynn requested. The blonde haired man shook his head.

"Let's not lie to ourselves. If it's a fighting style, then it was made to fight with. Just because it's better defensively doesn't make it any less good in battle… I won't lie, I think my master hated me for thinking that way, though maybe he gave me my black belt because of my looks before I got the operation," the karate master rambled. While Lynn wanted to argue, she was in no position to be hypocritical, as Lincoln was learning karate to protect others.

"What operation was that?" She asked, though getting on his nerves with all the inquiries.

"I used to be a woman named Jennifer. Now I'm Jerold… It was nice talking to you, but I gotta get back to my students. I see three of them slacking," Jerold then went ahead.

"Wow…" Lynn guessed that was what stuck out as weird to her, but she did not judge Jerold over his life choices. She did however feel sorry for the students who were caught slacking, as they were in for overhaul training.

"Just do your best like always, Lincoln."


	33. Setup

**Authors Note: I apologize for there being no update yesterday, I was mourning for the unfortunate passing of my father. Please enjoy the chapter, I will do my best to resume daily updates.**

"Ow!" Lincoln cried in pain as he fell hard on his back, groaning after the landing. He had tried to perform a counter guard grab against one of his classmate's attacks, and he failed miserably, leading to his current position on the floor. The teenage boy had been practicing the same move for the last hour it was more for the exercise than anything.

"Alright, students. That's enough for today," Master Jerold spoke up, Lynn coming over and helping her boyfriend off the floor as he held his head in pain.

"Thanks, Lynn… I'll go get changed," Lincoln was aware that his girlfriend most likely wanted to get home. He knew how boring it could be to watch others fight or practice rather than practice themselves. Lynn knew Jerold was at least a nice teacher who cared for his pupils. His views on fighting were the only thing questionable about him.

"Huh?" She heard her cellphone ringing and pulled it out, not hesitating to answer. One thing she and Lincoln did to know when Lisa called was change her alert tone to a siren, since it tended to be an emergency whenever she called.

"What's going on, Lisa?" Lynn asked while stepping outside the karate studio. Her only brother would catch up to her when he was back in his normal clothes.

"Well I have questionable news… Please get home fast, this is something unusual and frankly I cannot determine the threat level of it," Lisa sounded frustrated, sounding as if she had not slept all night, once again trying to progress with that empty essence sphere to no success.

"Does it involve the Xeran?" Lynn worriedly fastened on her guardian boots, her phone held between her head and shoulder.

"I believe so," Lisa hung up. Lynn put away her phone, guessing it was impossible to have more than a day's rest without the Xeran attacking or causing some form of mischief. Her brotherly boyfriend stepped outside, back in his orange hooded shirt without the weights. He was making sure his guardian gauntlet was on tight.

"What's going on?" Lincoln quirked to the worried Lynn.

"Lisa says something Xeran related is happening, but she wants us to come straight home instead," Lynn explained. It did sound odd to her that if the Xeran were back, that instead of attacking them head on, the child genius was recalling both guardians home.

"Well, Lisa knows best," Lincoln nodded, not waiting a second as the teenage couple began to make their way off through Royal Woods. They needed to get home, hoping that maybe they would be able to get the chance to save Lori again, if the Xeran made her attack them once more.

Gamban was walking along the eastern part of Royal Woods, and he was blending in so far, his trench coat blowing slightly in the wind. The disguised Xeran Elite kept one hand on his red fedora as he walked, eventually coming to a stop at the parking lot of a supermarket.

"Hm? Well… that's what I need if I want to get situated here," Gamban's attention was caught when he saw two men who were meant to be unloading cargo from the back of a truck, but were relaxing at a foldout table and chairs eating lunch that they hauled along for the sake of it, since they didn't take up much room. The gambling monster approached the two.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, are either of you two interested in getting aid with all that heavy lifting?" Gamban offered. His disguise seemed to be working well. He looked like an average street rat, or at least a decent low income making citizen.

"We'd appreciate the help, but we can't pay," the first, bald worker spoke.

"And I can tell just by looking at you that you aren't exactly the volunteering type," the other delivery worker in a blue coat and sunglasses added. The two men saw their lunches get swept to the side and Gamban pull out a deck of cards from his trench coat, resting it out before them.

"I'm a betting man, you see… Here's the deal. We play one single game of Blackjack. I presume you know the rules to that? The one with the highest number wins, but if you go over 21, you bust," Gamban simply explained.

"Oh, we know that game all too well…" the blue coated man nodded with his cohort, both already knowing this game. They did not have a problem with card games, but it was not exactly as tempting as much as their lunches were to them.

"If either of you two win, I'll do all the unloading off of that truck for you," the disguised Xeran Elite stated. This caught the two's interest immediately.

"…And what do you want if you win?" the bald man requested, assuming that the man wanted money or their lunch.

"If I win, I get your table and chairs… Does that sound fair?" Gamban asked. The second man grabbed the deck, glaring to him.

"Sounds really fair… But just to make sure, we'll shuffle it for you," he offered. The disguised monster nodded, with no protest whatsoever. The two men watched Gamban pull the ace out of the side of his fedora and slip it into the center of the deck.

"The deck is all there… If you really do not trust me though, how about you shuffle it and your friend deals the cards?" the Xeran Elite suggested. The workers had no problem with this, more than happy to get free labor out of an easy game. After all, there were two of them. The odds were in their favor.

"Nice to see a gambling man with a sense of fairness… Not much of that in this world," the first worker said, thinking this would be nice. The supermarket did have a lot of customers coming in and out. Even so, they wondered what this random stranger in the red fedora and trench coat wanted their table and chairs for.

"We're ready," they said, and the disguised Xeran Elite watched them deal out the cards in a clockwise fashion. They each received two cards only one at a time. Once they all were ready, the trio all flipped their cards over.

"Jack and a five," the first man said.

"I got a King and a Queen," the second said.

"It appears I've gotten a ten and a four," Gamban hummed. The numbers were not in his favor. Jacks, kings and queens in Blackjack were all worth ten.

"Hit me," the bald worker decided to take another card for the risk when he received his third card unfortunately the man got an eight putting him at 23.

"I busted out right away," he shook his head, guessing someone had to be unlucky.

"…I'll stay," the second worker tapped his cards happy with the high twenty. He smirked, confident that he had won. The only options for Gamban were to risk the draw, and either draw too low or bust out as well.

"I'll draw," the disguised Xeran Elite smiled, keeping calm as his third card got played. He had received a six, putting him at the same number as his opponent. The two had nothing more than a draw.

"Heh… gotta admit, mister, you're lucky," the worker stated. The bald man was just resuming eating his lunch since he was out of the game of Blackjack. The four cards got dealt out between the hidden monster and the trench coated man.

"I wouldn't be a gambler if I wasn't," Gamban chuckled as their cards were turned over. The man across from him had an 8 and a 3, while the Xeran Elite had a 9 and a 7. Eleven to sixteen already, an uneasy start. That first man could instantly win if he had 21 points.

"I'll take a hit," the second man drew, and he got a 9, leaving him once again at twenty. The worker kept what he had.

"I'll hit," Gamban smirked as he drew, and he received a 3, putting him at 19. Upon drawing, he heard the man laugh, the other worker looking happy at this as well.

"Looks like I win," the trench coated man yawned, drawing another card and getting an ace that left him to twenty points, "Criminey… what luck…! Guess we're going to deal out hand three."

"I'll risk my luck," Gamban reached for the deck and drew another card, laying it out. It was the very same ace that he normally carried in the side of his hat, which he had slid into the stack of cards prior. Just like that, it left him at 21 Blackjack.

"I believe I win," the Xeran Elite declared. The two men were staring in disbelief. This man had just pulled a miraculous lucky draw, and it was not like they had given him any way to cheat. They watched his hands constantly and made sure to do all the dealing and shuffling themselves.

"You see… gambling is like magic. It works in mysterious ways," Gamban put the ace back onto his fedora with a smile, before he brushed the two men's lunches off the tables, all but the plastic cups anyway. The two humans watched as he suddenly made every one of the cards pull into the palm of his hand in a neat, organized stack, like they were magnetized.

"Well… a bet's a bet," the men nodded, not going to fight. This was their fault for wanting to get some free labor and help to ease their poor backs from the heavy lifting. Gamban smiled while looking at the people wandering the supermarket parking lot.

"So many people willing to play a small game for the cost of nothing but their time… Time to gather essence for my master," Gamban laughed. Most Xeran Elite would dread going about gathering essence subtlety or stealthily. He had cheated to get that ace he wanted, and the men he just played with didn't realize it one bit.

"I can't understand it," Lincoln murmured. The Loud house was in a bitter quality today. Without Lori around, most were feeling depressed or not exactly in the mood to do most of their usual activities. Lily kept waking up last night, constantly crying so much that Luna took the poor infant to bed with her just to console her. Thankfully the rock loving loud got Lily to calm down easily, once she had a warm body to sleep with.

"Is… is it a code?" Lynn and her brother looked at the weird letter that Lisa had supposedly received from the Xeran. Lana and Lola were in the room trying to entertain themselves. Lisa had already consulted them about this, wondering if a lower intelligence perspective would be able to understand the letter easier. Sadly, it was not true, if so, Leni would be a puzzle master.

"As far as I can tell, it's nothing more than card puns that Luan herself would make… Note to self, incinerate note once we understand it," Lisa spoke, not wanting their comedic sister to get a bad handful of card puns in her pun book. It was groan worthy enough half the time whenever she made those puns. Lincoln never really cared or minded, tending to just go along with it or make his own in retort.

"But if it's from BelGaner, why would he just send us a… well, I guess it is a riddle, but again, why would he send us it?" Lynn wondered aloud. How the letter even arrived here in the first place the child prodigy had found the mailman unconscious outside and he conveniently had the letter in his bag. 'For the Guardians' was written on front.

"And I thought history had given me a big enough headache with worry," Lincoln groaned, glad his parents were happy with his B+. His family in general was surprised with the score but he ignored the praise, thinking he had not earned any until Lori was back.

"Let me read it again," he took the letter from his sisterly girlfriend, looking it over once again to read it.

"To the siblings, the hand of fate for your missing blue star has been dealt with. In the coming days, the games are going to begin. I have never been a monster of dishonesty, or pure evil, or filled hate nor with despite, but I will allow fate to control this, if you win the game that begins this Friday night at six o'clock, then we will relinquish the blue star over to you. On the other hand if you refuse, then we shall do with her what happens to most bad hands, and throw her away to another dimension. The location will have a unique sign upon it - BelGaner."

"And then there's the weird part…" Lynn murmured, looking at the end of the letter that was meant to tell them the location of where to go Friday night, but it was still troubling and confusing.

"There are four people gathered up all night long and play until the crack of dawn. They are there for fun, rather than victory, with a separate score for everyone. When the time arises to give them their pay, they all make the same amount, nothing lost or gained."

"I detest riddles," Lisa groaned while holding her head. She had tried so hard to solve this, but she made no good results.

"Why don't you ask the others?" Lola suggested, aware of their siblings' frustration. They were all upset over Lori's disappearance, but she and Lana didn't know why.

"The best way to look at a puzzle is to look at it from every angle, right?" Lana added while trying to fix the remote control for the living room television that broke once a week, at least from the constant quarreling over it.

"You are correct… we have only four days, counting today, to figure this out. If we can't, we are in deep trouble," Lisa stated. They had no choice but to follow this recommendation to try and find this location. They could ask their siblings for insight on the riddle as well, in hopes of finding out something. Lincoln rubbed his arm nervously while Lynn could only shake her head. This was going to be a rough one.

"Just hang on Lori...We'll save you."


	34. Uneasy

The last three days had passed, each more stressful than the last. When Lincoln and Lynn weren't trying their best to solve this riddle to find the location where the game would take place, they were spending their time brainstorming to dissect every last word of the riddle. All of their siblings' insight had done nothing to help, but they at least got them on the right track of thought. The teenage couple hoped they could find something before tomorrow night. Otherwise, Lori was doomed to whatever fate awaited her in this other dimension they would throw her to. The Xeran promised to send her away if they were not able to show up or refused to play the game they had in store for them.

"I was really thinking that the bank undergoing renovations would be the right answer…" Lynn sighed. She and her boyfriend were sneaking out from a closed construction site. It was around eight in the evening. They had snuck out of the house past curfew, to try and follow up on possible answers to this riddle, and again there was no luck.

"I guess we sure know how Lisa feels now… A problems been thrown at us and we're either over thinking it or not thinking hard enough," Lincoln exhaled while leaning against one of the many pieces of equipment around. His confusion and annoyance made him bash his arm against the machine, his guardian gauntlet colliding with it causing a vibrating echo.

"Lincoln! I know you're upset… But getting angry isn't going to do us anything. Look at the bright side. Luna's going to be opening act for that other band Saturday, remember?" Lynn tried to remind him. Her brother cast his gaze up to her briefly, before it went back down to the dirt beneath them. Being reminded of the day after they were supposed to play that game against Xeran was the last thing he wanted to hear to refill his morale.

"I feel like it's all my fault," Lincoln held his head in his hands, "If I had been there, maybe I could have done something to help you both."

"Lincoln, I'll punch you if you keep thinking like that. If you were there it might have went better, yeah, but you weren't it already happened," Lynn warned him. Her coaches told her a million times to never dwell on one loss otherwise she would lose more, that advice turned out to be very true it helped her out immensely as well, he nodded understanding.

"Sorry. I mean… Just thinking about anything past Friday, makes it seem like we're just giving up on her," the lone loud boy told her while they continued walking through Royal Woods, his sisterly girlfriend understood why he disliked it nor could take his mind off anything else, suddenly she had an idea come to her mind.

"The place the concerts supposed to take place at is nearby. Do you want to go check it out?"

"I… I guess," Lincoln reluctantly agreed, aware that they could go investigate it, because they often held performances there on a nightly basis that did not end until midnight. If memory served Lynn correctly, tonight was a country band. Neither were a fan of the style of music, but it was nice to listen to once in a while. And hearing a different type of tune never hurt anyone.

"Wait… Music?" He stopped in his tracks, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the very cryptic letter. His girlfriend wondered what he had stopped for as he began to view it as fast as his eyes could read repeatedly, until he suddenly flashed a bright smile on his bucktoothed face.

"Lynn! I figured it out!" Lincoln wrapped his arms around Lynn, picking her up off the ground slightly. She laughed in surprise at his sudden action.

"You figured it out?! What's the answer, Einstein?" Lynn was rested back down. If her brotherly boyfriend was correct, then they would be able to get a good night's sleep tonight, since they might confidently know the location now, but the only way to really know was to check for the unique sign at the location, whatever that might be.

"The riddle!" Lincoln showed her the letter, "The four gathered up that play all night until the crack of dawn, for fun instead of victory with a separate score for everyone, that all get the same pay when the night is done? Nothing lost, nothing gained? They're referring to a band, like the type that'd play in a casino! They just were using gambling analogies to confuse us."

His sister felt her heart skip a beat as she smiled, seeing him so confident and happy. She hated to have Lincoln any other way. It was great to see his spirit back.

"And you think this concert area nearby will have the unique sign at it?"

"I'm positive!" Lincoln took her hand in his and began to hurriedly lead her down the streets. He was not going to wait to find out. If they were wrong about this building, then they could go check other concert areas. Lynn gladly kept up, for as long as he kept that blazing spirit of his going, she was going to follow him until the end.

"I'm glad you gave us this chance," she smiled, hoping the Xeran were not doing anything else to the city other than this weird game that BelGaner was running. Otherwise things would become very tedious.

"Step on up, people! Come on! Step up! Test your luck! Nothing is to be bet here! This is just for fun and to test your luck!" Gamban stood outside of a twenty-four hour strip mall, a popular one that people were coming and going from.

"Can I try?" The disguised monster heard but could not see where the voice came from until he looked down. A little boy at almost the age of seven stood before the table. Gamban pushed his fedora up on his head, smiling. The kid saw this like a small booth at a fair, just a little game for fun like the disguised monster exclaimed it to be.

"Of course, little guy. I'll let you play one I used to do a lot when I was younger," Gamban unveiled five throwaway black cups and a bright silver ball, he put it under the middle one while all five cups were set up. The disguised monster began switching the cups around in rapid movement, the speeds varying to mess with whomever played.

"Give it ya best shot," Gamban let the little boy try and guess the right cup, wondering if he would judge and doubt his eyes and what they saw, or believe that they had kept up with every movement of the cups.

"This one!" The little boy pointed to the middle one. The disguised Xeran Elite picked it up, revealing the ball still underneath.

"Dang… you know the 'don't move the one the ball's actually under' trick. You'll get far with brains that smart, kid… here, consider it a lucky charm," Gamban made a bright joker card slide out from his sleeve, handing it over to the little boy, who was very happy to have won. As the young boy left, the card began to absorb a rainbow variety of colored essence, sending it to the odd, rainbow colored ace in the disguised monsters hand.

"Ah, there we go… since you won, I only took a little," Gamban hummed, sliding the colored ace onto the side of his hat where several others resided. The disguised Xeran Elite had been moving around all of Royal Woods, gambling for people's essence. If they won, they only lost a little, and if they lost, they had a good chunk taken from them. The joker cards were far from lucky, nor were those who dared test their luck more than once.

"Whew… I think Master BelGaner will be content with what I have gathered," Gamban smiled. He had done nothing but gather essence day and night, taking only little rest. His master wanted a whole lot of it, perhaps to guarantee that the majesty would not be upset with their plan if something went wrong. After all, these guardians were full of crazy surprises.

"Huh… wait a second… that Gruynithil stuff seemed just as valuable as essence. Maybe Master BelGaner would be even happier if I went and acquired some…? The material isn't as prominent here as it was in other dimensions. Even so, these humans must stockpile it somewhere, correct?" Gamban scratched his chin while pondering, letting a portal open beneath his feet. He had gathered a lot of essence, enough to create a thousand textoth if they desired, an army that could fell a hundred thousand humans if permitted to rampage. But it still would not be enough for the Xeran ruler, the majesty himself.

"Perhaps the other generals will know about this. After all, anything that can be a token to gamble with will be exceptional," Gamban sunk into the portal, reverting back to his normal monstrous form before vanishing and returning to the eldritch realm.

"Well, this is the place," Lincoln told Lynn as they walked into the small stadium where the concert was going to be held this coming Saturday, just like every night. The sound of an acoustic guitar rhythmically strumming with a second one backing it up, as they rung out to the following beat of a drum, and a harmonica's tone sounded in the backup.

"If the answer to the riddle is right…" Lynn added while they watched the three man band from the stands with the rest of the crowd. They all seemed passionate with their music. One thing that always appealed to many people about country music was the heart and retelling of a person's life, experience or hardships, almost like the tune alone told their tales.

"Do you know what a unique sign would look like? Because… well, everything about the Xeran is a bit uniquely weird, or crazy," Lincoln asked. His girlfriend then made him look back at the band, clearly she had made a fast realization.

"We're staring at that unique sign, Lincoln… That's BelGaner there," Lynn claimed. Lincoln was about to deny it, until he saw the golden harmonica being played, it shimmered underneath the stage lighting, and that flintlock revolver was dangling off his side. The majesty's general was disguised as an elderly prospector, for whatever reason.

"Oh, you're right…!" Lincoln whispered in shock. They were close enough in the stands to see the golden shimmer of it. Lincoln had seen the all too familiar memento of BelGaner's in the video.

"What do we do?" Guardian Black asked. They knew the Xeran could disguise themselves at their own free will now, which just made things more confusing. She kept her eyes on him while pulling her star out from her pocket. Lincoln, however, grabbed her wrist.

"Don't, Lynn…" Her boyfriend requested. "We should leave."

"What?! That monster is right there! We can go down there and get him right now!" Lynn demanded, the crowd thankfully ignoring their argument since they were trying to keep it toned down for politeness's sake.

"Then we'll just be giving the guardians a bad name, because it would look like we just attacked some random elderly southern band. We still have no way to get ahold of Lori, and killing him would get us nowhere. Remember what the letter said? BelGaner offered us a fair challenge to save her…" Lincoln looked more frustrated when his sibling lover refused to pocket her black star, he understood her fury. Both toward his request, and the majesty's general of strategy before them.

"Believe me, I want to kill him with every last bit of anger filled essence in my body, but all we've got here is one large trap that tells us we found the right spot. We need to get ready for tomorrow, and tell Lisa."

"…Fine…" Lynn hesitantly put her star away. Her only brother knew she was still blaming herself for beating up Lori when she first used dragon mode, but it was better to save that anger for whatever awaited them tomorrow night. After all, they were going to be up all night, if that letter was any indication

"Don't worry. I don't have any problem now with you staying with me at night, if you still want to… I know you've been having nightmares the last few days," Lincoln said while they were leaving. He was referring to how at home Lynn had tried to go back to feigning normality and returning to her and Lucy's room at night, she would inevitably wake up terrified and drenched in sweat.

"…How did you know about that?" Lynn requested. Since no one had even caught her up at those late hours. Her brotherly boyfriend rubbed his head.

"I heard you running the washer last night… I guess that nightmare was a pretty bad one if you were trying to hide an accident," Lincoln commented. She looked mortified from hearing him mention how he heard that and knew it all without a guess.

"…I just… I keep having dreams of everyone dying… the first night, it was just Lori vanishing, then… we were being slowly ripped apart by their generals in the most gruesome way they could think of… it all felt… so real, they always saved us for last..." Lynn choked on her feared voice. Lincoln put an arm around her as they continued, aware of what brought this chain of nightmares for the Loud family's safety, the same thing that gave him fear and bravery at the same time.

"I love you, Lynn, but like you told me, I need to quit thinking about the past," Lincoln assured with his smile, one that appeared comforting, "So I'm telling you now, not to go blaming yourself. Lori didn't try to resist, or run at all. I saw that video too, you know. We'll figure this out together, but right now, we need to make sure our family isn't hurt anymore and make sure Lori will be back saturday."

"Lincoln…" Lynn was at a loss for words, but it seemed to lift her heart back up to where it should be. She softly nuzzled her head a little against his, before she let him lead the way.

"Thank you for doing everything you can to try and help everybody."

"Don't mention it, that's our job now, right?" Lincoln smirked, she nodded as they continued through the empty streets.

"Of course, I'd do anything for you even if I wasn't a guardian."


	35. Not Ready?

**Authors Note: I wanted to thank you all again, since this fic is about to 20,000 views. I hope you all enjoy, and take care!**

During early Friday afternoon, about a hundred miles away from Royal Woods, there was a military outpost established of grand size that was known as the Iron Griffin Outpost. It was as big as a military base, and was once well known throughout the nation and respected for its civic honor. But then they were changed to lower priority due to threat levels across the country changing. Now it was treated by other military as nothing but a small rest stop or a storage zone.

"…I tell you, the sergeant nearly took my head off over it," one soldier spoke, his assault rifle over his shoulder on his back. He stood beside another guard, both stationed outside to check ids of any other military vehicles attempting to enter the facility. These two guards stood outside of the fence, tanning on their feet.

"What did he want you to do? Shoot it? It was just a mama bear passing by with her cubs," the female guard said. Their base was stationed by a forest, so wildlife was a common thing to see. Her partner had spent the other day making sure the bear family did not go wandering into the military camp so they would be safe. Their sergeant did not like the news one bit.

"I guess…" the first soldier shrugged. They noticed something odd suddenly as a small amount of dark purple colored essence appeared in the sky, beginning to spread out largely. Gamban fell from the portal, landing on his feet before them, and adjusted his fedora onto his head.

"What is that?!" the female soldier reached for her assault rifle.

"I think that's one of those monsters they've been talking about on the news… those things that have been appearing in Royal Woods…! I just figured it was all one big joke, like December 2012," the other soldier said, still in surprise, getting his rifle drawn. They took the safeties off, the first soldier pulling out his radio from his shoulder.

"We… request the big voice for backup at the front gate and get permission from the sergeant for a commo call," the soldier said. The responder on the radio asked several questions but received no response, the army man being too distracted keeping both hands on his gun, aiming for the Xeran Elite.

"Keep your hands up, or else we will shoot! Turn around now and leave!" The second soldier threatened, the gate behind them opening as several more soldiers began to get lined up with them, all just as shocked as they were at the sight of this monster.

"I am here to inquire about your Gruynithil… but I guess you all wouldn't be up to a game of poker for your information, would you?" Gamban chuckled, doing nothing but confuse the group of soldiers. It was not exactly common knowledge about the alien material, since it was frankly only in recent time getting any real use in the world.

"This is your final warning! Turn around slowly and walk away with your hands over your head!" One soldier shouted. Gamban exhaled in frustration, having really enjoyed the last week of gambling with strangers, but guessing all good things must come to an end, to be replaced by even better things.

"I'll make you a wager, my friends… for any of you who can survive for the next hour of my assault as I level this entire base for its Gruynithil. If you win, you get your lives and get to keep your essence. But if I win… well, it's pretty obvious this is a high stakes game," Gamban laughed, making a joker card and ace card appear in his hand and pointing it toward the soldiers, stepping back as an army of textoth appeared from the portal above, landing behind the Xeran Elite leading them.

"Let's begin!" Gamban threw the cards into the air, and the sound of machine gunfire rung out as the textoth charged for the soldiers and base, Gamban slowly walking behind them without so much as a given care.

"Ahh!" One soldier cried as a jagged scimitar sawed through his side. The gunfire had stopped. Already all the soldiers were trapped by the textoth's jagged blades, blood spilling out heavily from each torturous blow they took.

"There we go," Gamban smiled, watching the shower of essence begin to get sucked out from the group of soldiers by the ace in the air, the mass beginning to become quite colorful. Gamban caught the card when the soldiers were now drained of every last drop of their emotional beings, the elite putting the ace in the lining of his fedora. It was the only one now since Gamban had turned over all the essence while he was in the eldritch realm.

"You can kill them now," the gambling monster snapped his fingers. The cries of the soldiers rang out as they were cut to pieces. The joker card landed on the gate, and it began to glow red, and then detonated, the large explosion ripping the gate apart. The siren began blaring and every soldier in the facility was on red alert.

"Allow me to say this! We are the Xeran! I may not be a general for the majesty, but as one of the elites! I can happily offer you this; if you surrender all of your Gruynithil to me, I will leave with my two-hundred cohorts here," Gamban announced while standing in the middle of the open base with his many textoth around, all looking eager to fight. Having gathered so much essence, had made the majesty quite happy of BelGaner's Xeran Elite. Therefore he allowed an army of textoth to be sent with him to accomplish the request Gamban made.

"Here's the answer!" A voice shouted. Gamban and his skeletal warriors saw a grenade land in front of them, and one of the textoth picked it up.

"Hm… I've never seen something like this before… This dimension's technology is certainly odder than the others'," Gamban rubbed his head, having never seen a grenade before. Suddenly it detonated within the textoth's hands, causing a blast of smoke in the air and sending Gamban flying back and felling a chunk of his evil army.

"Oof…! Now I understand their answer," Gamban adjusted his fedora back on his head while sitting up. Things ended up in pure chaos. The Xeran Elite saw the sergeant, whom he presumed led this base, who had chucked the first grenade of the several in this battle.

"Get the leader, and he'll give us a winning hand," Gamban pulled out a joker card, throwing it at the base of the guard tower. It glowed red and detonated like last time, the sergeant and guards stationed above falling with the tower as it collapsed.

"Ough…" the sergeant groaned, feeling his legs crushed beneath some of the rubble. Gamban approached, grabbing him and pulling him out.

"You're the leader, right? Where's the Gruynithil?" The Gambling monster demanded. One soldier shot the Xeran Elite in the back with multiple bullets, causing a small amount of sparks and smoke but nothing more.

"I-I'm the sergeant… our general got relocated elsewhere… we don't have any of that," the sergeant replied. Gamban guessed this was going to be harder than he anticipated. An idea suddenly hit him.

"I'm a Gambling man. I can see through a liar a mile away… Textoth! Capture and line up those soldiers. We'll allow their second-in-command to watch everyone who followed him be executed before his very eyes. That way, we'll let them know who the Xeran are," Gamban ordered. The army of masked skeletons in red and green understood the order. Gamban then turned to the sergeant to threaten him. "I don't have to tell you this, but if you don't say anything… not only will they all die, but we'll just keep attacking the rest of your bases until we get what we desire!"

"Al-alright! Alright! I'll talk! These are good men! Just let them live, they have families," the sergeant pleaded. This was just what Gamban wanted to hear. They did not even survive this attack for twenty minutes. If there was the good amount like he wanted, they would have something else to gamble with. The military of the states had a unique system for handling Gruynithil, in which they would spread it out evenly across the countries many military bases to make sure that it could not all be stolen at once. Sadly, having a policy in place to confiscate all forms of the alien material made there be plenty in each location.

"Alright, well… are you two ready?" Lisa asked Lincoln and Lynn who sat at the kitchen table eating. The teenage boy was just eating a salad, while the teenage girl beside him was eating a large hero sandwich with her favorite items filling it up. The clock read 3pm, yet not many of their family were home at the moment. Many were off to go to the circus freak show in town. Only the three of them remained behind, they knew it was just an effort to get their minds off Lori.

"No… not really," Lincoln ate another forkful of his salad with some of the chopped carrots in it. He was a big fan of carrots while growing up, that a lot of his family joked that he was a baby bunny.

"Not in the slightest," Lynn added to her boyfriend's comment. They were trying to be relaxed about the upcoming night before them. They had even gone to bed early, the second they got home last night, to get the extra sleep they wanted.

"What do you mean you're not ready!?" Lisa was stunned to hear this.

"Calm down, Lisa," Lincoln insisted. He and Lynn seemed to be sharing the same train of thought.

"We just know it's going to be harder than what we've fought before. BelGaner's literally the general of strategy… We don't even know what 'game' we're going to play," Lynn explained. She looked a lot better now, as last night was the first night she rested without terrible nightmares waking her up.

"That and from the sounds of it, the game's going to last all night," Lincoln added. The letter did indicate so. The two finished eating and got up.

"Please, be careful you two… I wish I could have made a breakthrough with the empty essence sphere, but I'm unable to get any results from it," Lisa apologized, feeling like she had let them down, even if somehow their guardian stars could combine to make dragon mode as a secret weapon, it was an accidental discovery that never had been intended to be created. So far the child prodigy felt more like Lana, just a repairs specialist.

"Lisa, don't worry about us. Just do your best and you'll find something out… as long as it isn't broken. We're doing good, right?" Lincoln reassured. That brought a smile on Lisa's face.

"We'll be back tomorrow," Lynn bid her goodbye as the sibling couple left so they could go to the meeting place to confront BelGaner. When they did leave, what Lincoln had said began to make the child prodigy's mind begin to race.

"Wait… during that fight, Lynn broke Lori's sword. The Xeran took the handle with them, but what about the rest of the broken blade? That's Gruynithil that we can use… it's not much, but it might be able to be put to use!" Lisa realized. Their oldest sister's broken sword's majority of parts might remain in the park. The young girl left the home as well, wanting to go gather it all up.

"Maybe if I make another star… We can put it to use, and start making the third guardian," Lisa hoped. It was going to be a long night for her as well. She took a deep breath as she began to leave the yard to get to the park. It was a long walk ahead of her.

"A little is better than nothing."


	36. High Stakes

"Well… this is it," Lincoln nervously said as they arrived to the concert location where the game BelGaner was hosting was going to be held. He looked to his cellphone, the time reading 5:49pm, the sun had nearly set ready for the moon to take its place.

"The place isn't closed tonight. I think the same band from yesterday is playing again," Lynn presumed that BelGaner had somehow gotten another gig booked tonight with his perhaps disguised monster band members. She wondered how they were going to play any games here at all if many people were inside.

"Come on. You said it yourself that he's the general of strategy… He's got something in mind to keep this place to ourselves for however long this game goes on for," Lincoln took her hand in his for reassurance as they both made their way into the small concert stadium. They entered through the entrance, the double doors being closed behind them.

"Whoa… this place is packed!" Lynn gasped. A giant crowd gathered in the whole building, taking about every seat in the stand available, and the four men that were once seen playing on stage last night were there no longer. The only music playing was from one harmonica. BelGaner sat on the center stage, undisguised for all to see.

"…I know he hasn't done anything specifically toward the city yet, but how can any of the Xeran be liked by anybody?" Lynn rubbed her head in pain.

"No argument there," her brotherly boyfriend agreed. After fighting Xerest the other day, he had no clue how any human alive could trust a monstrous race from another dimension, that were bent on wiping them out and stealing all of the world's essence.

"BelGaner!" Lincoln and Lynn stood before the stage, but didn't catch his attention. They wondered if they were going to have to get closer or shout Louder. His girlfriend was ready to take that golden harmonica and throw it as far as her pitching arm would let her.

"Oh… We've got two minutes left," Lynn suddenly realized. When she looked at her phone it was not yet six in the evening. He rubbed his head, not able to tell if he should feel more concerned that they had to watch one of their biggest enemies perform for self entertainment, or the fact that they had to anxiously wait and were not allowed to see Lori until they won most likely. They could at least be glad that BelGaner was pretty good on that golden harmonica, almost like he had played it for a hundred years.

"Huh?" Lincoln heard the cheering crowds stop when BelGaner halted playing his harmonica. He put it on his left side, his flintlock revolver on his right side. The clock had finally struck six as the general of strategy stood up.

"Greetings, Red Star and Black Star… Allow me to give you a round of applause for your intelligence unraveling the riddle," BelGaner welcomed them. The sibling couple heard a lot of clapping. Suddenly, the hundreds of people prior in stands began to unveil themselves as nothing but disguised textoth. The Xeran general got the concert hall to himself with nothing but pure numbers.

"Wh…whoa… I've never seen so many," Lincoln tried to be brave, but things felt claustrophobic, even though these textoth were not making any motions toward them yet. He got out his red curved tipped star while Lynn got out her black rough-pointed star.

"Ease yourselves. The game I have in mind for tonight does not involve the slaughtering of hundreds of humans or textoth en masse. I told you, I have never been a monster of dishonesty or pure evil, nor have I ever been filled with bitter hatred. Fate is going to have a main hand in tonight's game," BelGaner repeated what his letter declared, looking for his Xeran Elite, but there was no sign of him.

"Gamban! It's time!" BelGaner called out, but no one appeared. He looked perplexed.

"Hmm… apologies for the delay, but something is not right… one moment," BelGaner pulled out his flintlock revolver, spun the chamber of the gun and aimed above.

"Type 7 Ammo fire," the general of strategy shot the air four times around in a circle, before the fifth hit the center, breaking the part of the sky like glass. Gamban appeared not by his own choice, screaming as he fell to the stage, with a few red ingots of metal with him scattering all over.

"Oouugh…" Gamban whined, lying on his back in pain with BelGaner standing before him.

"Do I dare ask what was so important that you ignored my call?" BelGaner's back was turned to the two guardians. Lincoln had picked up one of the ingots and looked to his girlfriend.

"Lynn… It's Gruynithil! Grab all you can and hide it in your bag!" Lincoln said in a hushed tone, not sure where this stuff came from but it was like a miracle, perhaps karma catching up to repay the two for their heroic works. Lynn had her small duffel bag on her side, which she only brought in case the game involved gathering items.

"O-Okay!" Lynn nodded. They had all the textoth watching them from the stands, but last time they checked they could not talk. The skeletal warriors only appeared to be able to make weird noises. By the time BelGaner returned his attention on the two, they were pretending to have not moved an inch, looking nervous.

"Now where was I?" BelGaner groaned, holding his head, Gamban getting up off the ground and picking his fedora up.

"Y-you were saying fate was going to have a main hand in tonight's game?" Lynn asked. The Gruynithil that they had gathered out of it all, wherever it had come from, was not much. Ingots of it were nowhere near as large as a sheet or pure ore for this alien material, but they hoped Lisa would be happy with this nonetheless.

"Correct… Now then, Gamban… summon your friends," BelGaner ordered.

"Yes, sir," his Xeran Elite monster nodded, making four cards slide out from his sleeves, two cards sliding into both hands. He then showed them the four; the king, the queen, the jack and joker cards.

"The game is simple, with a special twist from the gambling master himself. The game you two are going to handle, is Hide and Seek… and these are the hiders!" Gamban threw the cards on the ground, and out sprung four, weirdly royal elite textoth, each one seeming to match up to their card pretty well.

"Hide and Seek?" Lincoln chirped.

"Uhh… I don't recall there being any gambling in hide and seek, either," Lynn commented. The textoth dressed up in royal clothing was humorous, though. One was in a king's outfit, another was dressed like a queen, and the last two looked more or less like twin jesters; while one kept the clownish appearance, the other stayed in royal attire. The four textoth vanished to an unknown location, through random portals that had appeared under their feet instantly.

"Allow me to explain. You see, those four textoth have scattered all over Royal Woods and are now disguised as regular humans… They've mastered that style of disguise for a game like this. To find them, you're going to be given four riddles. The answer is the key to finding their location," BelGaner explained. The Loud siblings wondered, why riddles of all things. They had a hard enough time finding this place, and that took them nearly four days alone, now they had to find four textoth hidden amongst hundreds of thousands of Royal Woods's population, with the riddles as their only clues.

"Well… at least it sounds fairer than being ambushed by this," Lincoln pointed a thumb to the stands where the hundreds of Xeran skeleton minions were.

"There's a catch to this, right?" Lynn asked BelGaner, "Then tell us already! You said there's gambling involved, and I know you mean more than our 'Blue Star'." She added, referring to Lori the same way he would.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gamban snickered. They could hear the textoth cackling.

"The risk in gambling today is lives… Not lives of your blue star nor of your own lives' black and red stars, but the lives of the people you claim to fight for… Because once you solve the riddle, it won't make the textoth reveal itself. You have to take the risk to kill whoever you think it is on the spot, and if you're wrong and the person you attack isn't the textoth… then they die, and if the textoth survives said attack and escapes, you lose instantly," BelGaner explained. The sibling couple felt their hearts sink.

"Wha…what?! Are you insane?! You said this was going to be a fair game!" Lincoln angrily reminded the general of strategy.

"It is. This is a game of fate and minds, with no luck involved here. I have done my best to make luck a non factor for you red and black stars," BelGaner insisted. He hated random luck being the main factor to victory. Skill and brains was what he liked to believe in. "But do not fear. I will not restrain you from aid of any form. A riddle is only as complex as one's mind likes to believe. Sometimes, it is too complex. Otherwise, it is too simple. That is what this game was built upon."

Gamban brought the couple a few small white cards. Lynn took two and Lincoln took two. They certainly knew the frustration with solving riddles. The three days they spent trying to find the place the game was going to be hosted was difficult enough for them.

"The game ends at six a.m.! Let's give our gamblers a round of applause!" Gamban shouted. The textoth in the stands clapped aloud. BelGaner was pleased with the results of all their hard work.

"Good luck, Black Star and Red Star… and allow me to help you on your way to prove myself as a machine of my word. Black Star's second card is the easiest of them all, and if you do find and eliminate all four textoth, there is a surprise afterwards that will make itself clear," BelGaner informed them. It was confusing to the teenage sibling couple they were thinking that it almost was like the general of strategy wanted them to win, or at least earn their trust. Out of all the majesty's generals, BelGaner seemed like the sanest and calmest one of all, and they didn't know why.

"Type 7 Ammo fire," the mechanical Xeran spun the chamber of his flintlock revolver and began shooting around Lincoln and Lynn's feet, tearing a portal open beneath them. They held onto each other as they fell in, the portal closed shut after.

"Let the games begin!" He announced to the cheering crowds, before noticing Gamban looking around confused.

"Hey, I'm missing half of my Gruynithil..."


	37. The Game Begins

**Authors Note: I wanted to just let all you dear viewers know, that I have something special planned that I will begin on soon. But it will result in this fic being slowed down, it is a special chapter for it you could say like a movie one. That's the best way I have to describe it, I hope you all enjoy! Take care!**

Lincoln screamed as he fell from the air through the portal. The fall felt endless, until it was suddenly stopped when he abruptly landed in a pool of water at somebody's backyard. He quickly swam back to the surface, gasping for his breath while hanging onto the side of the pool.

"Ouuuggghhh…uhh?" Lincoln realized that he was not alone. There was a small family of five having a barbecue, and his sudden appearance out of nowhere had interrupted things.

"So-sorry, I'll get out of your yard," Lincoln apologized while he pulled his soaked body out of the pool, the family not having any words to say and just watching as he left, while the grill caught fire with its overcooked food. The teenage boy looked around the dark streets, not seeing Lynn anywhere. Only the streetlights and the moon itself were illuminating the night now.

"Well, at least these are safe," Guardian Red looked down at the two cards he had been given that had the riddles written down upon them. He doubted that BelGaner even had any real location in mind for where that portal would take the teenagers. Either way it seemed now, the game had begun.

"And that must be her now," he heard his cellphone ringing, mentally thanking Luan for getting him that waterproof phone case. The comedic Loud gave him that item to make sure that none of her very few water-based pranks that she used would not be able to ruin his phone. The middle Loud child recognized Lynn's ringtone since it was a more triumphant hero anthem theme that he had given her recently, which seemed fitting for his sister, seeing how she was Guardian Black.

"Hey, Lynn. Are you okay?" Lincoln asked, hoping that his girlfriend had a much safer warping than he had been given.

"Hey, Lincoln… Kind of… I'm just a bit dizzy… and all the blood's rushing to my head, that's all," Lynn replied. At the moment she was stuck hanging upside down in a tree, her duffel bag caught on a branch, which had saved her from the nasty fall and spared her from any injuries beyond a few scratches.

"Sorry about that… Glad to hear you're safe, at least. I wound up in a pool in some neighborhood, I kind of interrupted a family's cookout," Lincoln apologized. At the moment he felt pretty nauseous, just like his sisterly girlfriend. Neither of them were used to using those portals. They had no idea how the Xeran tolerated using them on a regular basis.

"Do you see a sign of where you are, or anything?" Lynn asked, still pondering to herself on how to escape from her own predicament without breaking any of her limbs. That would be devastating to both of her careers, sports and defending the world.

"Uhh… oh! There's one that says Archbrook Street… I've never been to this place before," Lincoln claimed while shaking his head rapidly like a wet dog trying to dry himself off.

"Oh! That's about half a mile away from our school. That means we're not too far from each other. So what do you want to do, boss? Want me to come to you, or do you want to come to me? Or do we meet halfway?" Lynn asked, thinking that it would be best if they were together for this extreme game of Hide and Seek, especially since they had to unravel riddles and discover disguised textoth if they wanted no innocent civilians to get hurt.

"Considering we've got to find four disguised skeletons before six a.m.… I think we should probably split up. If they were trying to hurt us, I'd say otherwise," Lincoln claimed, not exactly the keenest on being referred to as boss. If anyone was the leader of the guardians, it was Lisa, the very one who founded the Guardian Project, whose mind gave the world its first line of defense against the Xeran. It never was the intention though, it was what it had turned into. Going from simply finishing a project for a deceased cohort, turned into a vital volunteer protective service that grew daily more vital in its needs.

"Alright. I actually think I have this first riddle solved anyway," Lynn claimed, looking at the one card BelGaner had pointed out to her which he claimed to be the easiest to solve out of the four given out.

"That's great! I'll check up on you in an hour… Bye, I love ya."

"Thanks. Bye, I love you too," Lynn hung up, but then she heard a crack, looking to the tree branch. She sighed, aware that it would be worse to have that branch fall on top of her if she fell. She pushed herself off of it, landing on a few bushes down below, groaning on impact.

"Whew! I feel dizzy," she climbed out of the bushes, holding her head, the duffel bag full of Gruynithil dangling off her side. She looked around to notice the familiar school. She had landed on a tree very close to it. Lynn looked down at the first riddle she was given to read it.

"A common item crafted daily by man. It is always sold by the maker, but never wanted by the buyer. The one who uses the item never knows it either."

Lynn scratched her head. It sounded pretty simple to her. There were really only a few things that people would make to sell that others would inevitably have to buy and not want to use, nor know they were using it.

"Sounds like a tombstone or a coffin… Well that's a good thing… no funeral home or cemetery should be open at this hour! At worst, I get arrested for trespassing, and if I find someone in either that isn't able to speak, I beat them up!" Lynn punched one fist into the other, relying on the logic of textoth not being able to talk in hopes of discovering the disguised ones. She made sure her duffel bag was secure before beginning to make her way down the street to go to the nearest cemetery, which she knew as one of Lucy's favorites.

* * *

"Well… this is just great," Lincoln groaned while viewing the first riddle of the two he had, wanting to figure out any type of theory, as long as he could get a direction to go that might be an answer to this riddle, so far he was getting the exact opposite result.

"My first is often at the front door. My second is found within the cereal family. My third is what most people want. My whole is one united state."

"…I can't solve this alone… I'm stuck at twenty possible leads already," Lincoln shook his head. He was thankful that BelGaner did not forbid them from requesting aid.

"Lisa, be my savior again," he muttered while dialing her phone number. He held the cellphone to his ear, waiting for an answer.

"Hello, Lincoln. Did you win the game?" Lisa answered tiredly, at the moment in another part of Royal Woods herself. She had just left the park where Lynn and Lori had battled, and she had gathered up all the broken sword pieces that she could wrangle up.

"No, Lisa, it just started. I need help. It's a riddle based game of Hide and Seek, and this riddle I got is too complicated for me… the good news is that Lynn and I got a small amount of Gruynithil! A Xeran Elite dropped the stuff, no idea where they got it. It's not much, but it might be enough to make something out of it," Lincoln explained as best as he could, while adding the great news of more of the alien metal being in their possession.

"Really?! That's extraordinary! I was gathering some pieces myself… Kind of… so what is this riddle? I may be of use now that I'm more alert," Lisa replied. She felt very tired, having been walking forever, and her short legs did not make the trips any faster, but exercise was never bad as long as it got her outside of the lab, according to Lynn. The news did wake her right back up though.

"Well… I'll just send you a picture of it, so you can read for yourself," Lincoln then took a picture of the riddle card. Once the image was saved, he hit Send to send it to Lisa in a matter of moments. The Guardian Project's maker viewed the strange riddle with her glasses covered eyes.

"Hmm… the most common thing at front doors are mats… and the thing many people want more than anything is money or happiness… We both know money is the more likely of the two. However, I can't understand the second one," Lisa stated her theory thus far. The first part might be mat and the third part might be money. How these related were beyond them. Guardian Red suddenly had a light bulb flash in his head.

"Wait… what is cereal made with?"

"Primarily rye, a common cereal grain which takes not so much effort to produce. The factories tend to add several different personal ingredients when…" Lisa began rambling, while Lincoln was just thinking to himself and tuning her out, the gears in his head slowly turning. Riddles were not fun to him at all, because they were cryptic and ridiculous like this one. They always needed insane reaches in logic, and BelGaner did not hesitate to make them crazy and confusing it seemed.

"Mat… Rye… Money… Mat-rye-money… Wait a second! I know it's a stretch, but altogether it sounds like matrimony!" Lincoln declared. Lisa took a moment to process what he said, but understood his point. She wished she could ask her brother the details, but she would be wasting his precious time.

"Thanks, Lisa. I'll see you later," Lincoln thanked her for her assistance. He would have gotten nowhere without her.

"Please remain safe. I know this is for Lori, but I'd rather you all come back alive instead of only two," Lisa hung up. Lincoln understood, still willing to do his best to save everybody he could. But if it came down to it, he would give himself up for them, that was a heroes job to do their best to save everybody they could.

"I guess I need to find… I have no idea what I need to find. I guess I'll start with stores that sell wedding gowns," Lincoln scratched his head. He may have the answer to the riddle, but matrimony could refer to several things; jewelry stores that sold engagement rings, stores that primarily specialize in making and selling wedding dresses, and the dozens of various places that host for said weddings, or offer catering services for them.

"Oh, boy… I hope Lynn is nowhere near as confused as I am…" Lincoln exhaled in frustration, beginning to hurriedly run down the street. He was far away from the only shop he could think of that sold wedding dresses that was open late, this game was just living up to the fact that getting ready to be married was more chaotic than marriage itself.

"Don't worry Lori… you'll be fine… I promise."


	38. Disguise Masters

"Spooky… cool," Lynn stood in the Sunny Hills Graveyard, in the northern part of Royal Woods. Whoever named this cemetery obviously had a sick sense of humor. She had been here a good few times to get Lucy before, so this was nothing unusual. It was usually locked and closed after eight in the evening, but the Loud siblings had made friends with someone here.

"Thanks again for letting me come look around, Danta," Lynn spoke while keeping one hand on her duffel bag out of uncontrollable habit, guessing that knowing very important materials were in her care worried her. An elderly man walked beside her carrying a lantern, sixty years old and wearing a blue coat and red undershirt.

"It's no problem. Little Loud Lucy is a real sweetheart… I don't normally mind having people around the cemetery, because it gives the spirits company, but the person you're looking for sounds like a real bad apple," Danta commented. The old cemetery worker lived here. There was no other way into the cemetery, as when the gate locked, there was an iron rod fence that was quite dangerous to climb, due to them being surrounded by thorn bushes.

"They're out to cause a lot of trouble… I just don't want them to damage anything and have to leave you to do more work," Lynn claimed, sadly the only light they had was the elders lantern. It was not too dark sure, but the teenage girl could not get much done if she risked going around blindly searching, the sporty Loud would hate it if this elder had to do a lot of work on his own because of the Xeran game.

"That and I don't think there are any other funeral homes or cemeteries in the area…" Lynn commented, as far as she recalled the next graveyard was thirty miles away and the next funeral home being within it. The current one in the cemetery they were in was no longer used for anything, aside from Danta's personal home, as this cemetery was deemed full by the city, so no more people were allowed to be buried here.

"Hey! Who's there?" Lynn heard the sound of leaves moving and a twig snapping. Danta let her take the lantern. Guardian Black approached, seeing someone was hidden behind one of the larger tombstones. Lynn jumped out to startle the person, mainly in hopes of hearing if they could talk or not to help prove they weren't the disguised textoth.

"Wh-whoa, chill man!" The young man said, stopping Lynn in place.

"What are you doing here?" Lynn asked to the boy slightly younger than her. He was wearing a weird black shirt that looked like it came straight from the eighties, as well as sunglasses, and a toboggan wrapped around his head.

"I-I just like to come here to chill out! I hopped the fence. My coat and gloves protect me from the thorns," The young boy replied. Danta was going to let the young girl handle this. As he stated before, he never minded people visiting the graveyard, whether it was for selfish or creepy reasons. When somebody died, families tended to want to forget everything about them from their lives since it was painful otherwise, in a sense it was very messed up how much effort went into forgetting those that pass on.

"Alright… Have you seen anybody else here?" Lynn asked.

"No… only me," the boy shook his head, and then started to walk away, "Well, I better get going."

"What are you leaving for? It's not like we're kicking you out," Danta said, not wanting to be rude, though he understood in most cases how a lot of people wanted to be far away from a graveyard rather than close. The sporty Loud noticed something lying on the ground that he had dropped, as the boy left, ignoring their inquiry attempts.

"Is this… a joker card?" Lynn's eyes went wide in horror, looking at the boy leaving. She pocketed the card, and then got her rough tipped black star out, putting it into her vest and closing it, making her guardian knuckles and boots appear.

"Lynn, what is that?" Danta asked. She made a motion for him to stand back and be quiet, and then ran for the boy trying to leave, hopping over several graves. He began running himself when he realized he had dropped the card.

"You think you can outrun me? Well you're in for a fun surprise, you bag of bones!" Lynn grinned while catching up to him. The boy had no time to react before being punched in the face, sending him tumbling face first into a grave, groaning in pain. Guardian Black immediately pulled back her arms, putting her guardian knuckles together before slamming them full force into the back of his head, crushing their skull against the stone epitaph. In an instant it revealed the true jester textoth beneath it, now beaten.

"Whew… they really ARE masters of disguise," Lynn made her guardian knuckles and boots vanish as she took her black star out of her vest, and pocketed it. BelGaner was not lying when he proclaimed these special textoth made by Gamban to be the masters of disguise. They could move, act and speak like humans, which none of the skeleton minions could do otherwise, unless they were Elite textoth. But as far as the loud girl could tell, these were just normal textoth. With nothing special about them.

"Sorry about that, Danta," Lynn apologized to the elder while the textoth disintegrated into dust.

"It's… a monster? It really is what the news has been saying," Danta said. All media had been talking about these monster all over the world, some believing the Xeran were misunderstood and that the global government needed to go about dealing with them diplomatically, while a few worshiped them like they were dark overlords. Others believed they were aliens, and frankly Lynn leaned on that latter, because all she knew was that they came from another dimension and had conquered multiple other dimensions. If her memory was right from all the various monsters exclaiming, this was the fifth dimension the Xeran were trying to take over, somehow the inhabitants of the fourth dimension had defeated the Xeran, and made them nowhere near as strong as they once were clearly.

"They're playing some sick game where they want us to find the four of them… Don't worry, no one is in danger during this game," Lynn reassured the elder that he was safe, if that was what his main concern was. She looked at her phone, and the time read 11:39pm. Soon it would strike midnight, guessing that she made good time on defeating the first disguised skeleton monster.

"Thank you again… It's nice to know that the next generation cares about everyone," Danta commented, gaining a smile from her as she began to dial her boyfriend's number.

"I'll see you later, Danta," Lynn bid him farewell as she left the graveyard. She put the phone to her ear, waiting to inform her boyfriend of the unfortunately bad news about the textoth that she just discovered.

"Hey, Lynn," Lincoln answered, sounding rather cheerful, which she presumed was because he had been making good progress on his half of the hunt.

"Hi, Lincoln! I found the first textoth… I got it, don't worry… but I've got bad news for you," Lynn stated, wondering what that loud music was in the background.

"What? Did BelGaner reduce our time or something?" Lincoln nervously asked. He was afraid of BelGaner messing with the rules just to harass the guardians throughout the entire night to make it harder for them to save Lori, or any flimsy excuse to aggravate them. Despite how fair BelGaner came off as.

"No, he hasn't done anything, but listen! These textoth really are the masters of disguise! They can talk and everything, Lincoln!" Lynn exclaimed, hearing the cemetery gate being locked once again.

"Of course they can… Why did I think we had any form of advantage? Then again, I guess if we presumed they were mute, we'd get a chance at attacking anybody who couldn't talk," Lincoln replied, aware that silent people were not too uncommon. Some people were born without the ability to speak. Others had their vocal chords injured beyond repair, while some just chose to never speak their whole lives for some strange reason.

"I'll say… can you tell me where you are? And what's up with the music?" Lynn questioned. It was very nice at least, but she couldn't assume it was elevator music. Royal Woods's nightlife was a lot different than the day life that was for sure.

"Well, my first riddle pointed toward matrimony… Of course that left me at fifty different options, I've been to about three different tuxedo and wedding dress shops already. I was going to a catering shop to see if there was anyone there past closing hours. I thought the textoth would hide in closed places related to weddings… and, well, I got into what I can only call the largest wedding gathering I've ever seen," Lincoln explained. He was in the center of Royal Woods which had been rented for the night, since it was usually inactive during these late hours. Two families that had been feuding for decades appeared to have members from both sides getting married, which made everyone bite their tongues and sweep history all under the rug.

"Yeesh… Well, good luck finding the textoth in all that, Linc. Call me if you need help. I'm going to start on my second riddle… oh, by the way, the textoth are carrying the cards they were made from on them, so if you can find that, it might help," Lynn told him while pulling out the last card that had a riddle written onto it, giving her boyfriend the only real piece of advice she could think of during her encounter with the first textoth.

"Thanks Lynn I'll do my best… Bye I love ya," Lincoln chimed.

"Love you too," Lynn hung up, putting her phone away before looking to the card for her second riddle. Instantly her brain stalled upon viewing it and had left her surprised and confused.

"I'm always there some distance away. You see me everywhere, somewhere between land, sea or sky. Where I lay, you may move towards me, yet distant I stay. What am I?"

"…I hate riddles… well, time to ask Lisa if she knows anything…" Lynn held her head and began to walk, pulling out her phone to call Lisa for help. All she really wanted to do though was punch something, a common desire whenever she was angry. Whenever she argued with her siblings at home, the sporty girl would ignore them because in the end, she knew she was wasting time trying to argue. To her, it felt like most of the family was out for themselves. She swore that half the time if a problem arose and they could benefit only themselves, they would. On the other hand, after ending up harming Lori during that battle between them in their guardian suits, Lynn began to have a theory that perhaps only she herself of the Loud family was selfish, that nobody else, not even Lori, was as selfish as her. It really depressed her when viewing things from that perspective, even if it may just be her own personal guilt from injuring her oldest sister.

"…at least Lincoln makes things feel great at home… Maybe I should talk to him about telling the others about us?"


	39. Loaded Deck

"That's the eighth person I've met covered in cards, but it still hasn't turned out to be a textoth," Lincoln huffed while resting on a chair at one of the long tables, still in the large wedding party in the center of Royal Woods. He had tried to listen to his sisterly girlfriend's advice that the disguised textoth carried the cards they were made from on them, but whenever Lincoln found someone with cards on them, it was because a sore loser had thrown the cards at their opponent's face.

"Hm?" Lincoln heard his phone's text alert go off and pulled it out.

"I was able to cover for you both by claiming that you were over at Clyde's. Mom and dad weren't initially happy you did it without checking in, but I handled it with very useful distractions. - Lisa"

"Oh… Thank goodness…" Lincoln exhaled in relief, making a mental note to actually create an alibi for them both next time. They had to be out of the home all night. He knew how annoying it must be to Lisa to have to cover their secret identities and personal lives from nearly their entire family.

"I need to really do something for Lisa…" Lincoln told himself. After all the child prodigy had done, she needed to be given some acknowledgement for it all. Without her, the world would most likely be crumbled to dust, or would be the Xeran race's new playground until they were ready to conquer the next dimension.

"I need to think harder… If I were a skeleton playing hide and seek dressed up as a human in a matrimonial ceremony, what kind of human would I become?" Lincoln began to think while reaching over to one of the many treats offered at the long table. He may not be an invited guest to this fiasco. But he knew half of this food would get wasted nonetheless. It made him hard to care or hesitate for the matter, when rich people waved their money in others' faces.

"Enjoying the food? I made most of it," the Loud boy heard, looking over to see a red headed girl in a suit that looked around twenty years old. If Lincoln had to take a guess, the red headed girl looked to be of mixed descent. Guardian Red felt he had met enough varying people to be able to tell, but he had more than a long track record of failures and successes to guess their nationality.

"It's pretty great. I'm guessing you helped make it all?" Lincoln guessed.

"Yep! My mom's the one who got married. I'm Alex Richardson," she offered her hand to him. Lincoln paused for a moment, as he felt that dots were about to connect themselves. He shook her hand in response, but he grabbed her wrist gently, she had raised multiple red flags.

"You know, I may not exactly have gotten an invite here, but I think I just found what I was looking for, and I've mingled a good bit to learn enough about the two getting married," Lincoln began. The woman looked nervous as she watched him put the red curve tipped star into his guardian gauntlet, the claws extending out.

"The two getting married are twenty with no kids… I remember their names were Maria Trill, and Jason Smith. Nice try, but I know you're not their kid," Lincoln had learnt it all during the dozen or so times he roamed around the area, and how convenient that was to have, too, "Nice tactic, though… you're pretty smart for a textoth, or dumber than most, trying to talk to me when most of your race can't talk to begin with… though why else would the hider come to the seeker? To make the seeker think the hiders still hiding. So can I get that card you're hiding from me, textoth? I'm pretty sure I need it to prove I found you."

The textoth tried to escape his grip, and he tightened it, pulling back his other arm and stabbing the monster in the side of the head, watching his claws dig in.

"…I am horrible," Lincoln coughed as the disguise wore off of it, the skeleton collapsing to the ground while beginning to turn to dust. He had to attack something that acted so perfectly normal, so human. He was worried that he may slowly become more paranoid of the very people they were trying to protect, since elite textoth could disguise perfectly, and now it seemed regular textoth were learning that ability as well. Guardian Red hoped it was just because a Xeran elite made these textoth, instead of whatever usual method the Xeran used to create the skeletal warriors.

"Calm down, Lincoln… you're just tired and stressed, that's all… Just relax or you'll explode," Lincoln mentally told himself, noticing the queen card lying in the dust remains of the bones. He picked it up and pocketed it, and made his red curve tipped star pop out from his guardian gauntlet. As the claws retracted, he put the red star with the card.

"Alright… my next riddle should be easi… nope, it's worse," Lincoln groaned while leaving the wedding party, glad that no one had seen him confront that textoth, otherwise it would have gotten ugly. He was viewing the white card with his last riddle, and it was more confusing than the last.

"A rooster lays an egg on the top of a roof, what side does the egg roll down?"

"This could take me toward farms or every literal rooftop in the city!" Lincoln spoke out, almost about to lose it, "…Maybe Lisa can offer me some therapy or something, after this… Or I can ask mom to get me an appointment with Luan's therapist… I know she goes there twice a year because of April Fool's Day."

Lincoln needed therapeutic help with the personal guilt from attacking the monster that acted perfectly human, without hesitation. He became more worried that he might be getting numb at the thought of the constant fighting. He had no clue how he could phrase it to any therapist without mentioning any presence of alternate dimensional beings.

"I hope Lynn is having better luck than me," Lincoln sighed, deciding to head to part of Royal Woods that he knew had high up rooftops that could be accessed easily. He was drained already, most of his energy going into thinking. He continued through Royal Woods tiredly to continue his part of the game.

* * *

"I've got nothing."

"Come on, Lisa! You really can't decipher it, or get any clues at all from the riddle?" Lynn requested concernedly, while resting at a bus stop. The time on her phone she was talking to Lisa with read 2:57am. She had walked for a long time, trying to solve this riddle, but she gave in and called Lisa for help, upon realizing she had no hope of solving it on her own.

"You have my sympathies, Lynn, but you must remember I'm a science expert with a PhD, not a riddle expert… All you can do is go off clues with the riddle's words," Lisa said. Lynn rubbed her head, irritated. She had offered to wait so her younger sibling could send the drone to pick up the duffel bag of Gruynithil, but the material was far too heavy for that remote controlled device.

"I feel so worthless! I'm an athlete, and here I am in a situation where none of that matters until I find the disguised weirdo! I never thought I'd have to solve riddles to save the world…" Lynn exclaimed in grand frustration. She heard the child prodigy yawn tiredly. Lisa normally did not have problems with all nighters, but she had been doing them far too often recently, and it was beginning to show.

"Well to correct you, Lynn, we're not solving riddles to save the world, to be exact. We're confronting these mind bending puzzles, because one of our generation's genetic relatives is in life threatening danger," Lisa corrected her. Lynn really wished she had not been reminded about Lori. It just made her feel bad, like she caused this all in the first place.

"Do… Do you think she'll be mad at me?" Lynn questioned, off topic. She was considering requesting her boyfriend's help, but she knew he had his own share of textoth to hunt. Lincoln would call her once he got rid of one of the disguised creatures.

"For self-defense? No, I'd presume she would understand… if anything, I believe she would be pondering that exact same thing right now… IF she does have control of her mind, that is, and it's just her body being manipulated against her will," Lisa explained, still having to figure out a way to try and free Lori's essence. That dark essence inside of her was suppressing everything, locking it all away so she could be controlled.

"I take it you have personal guilt. But I'm not going to tell you not to worry or forget about it, because repeating what's already been said won't do any good… You'll find out when we get Lori back," Lisa bluntly claimed. Both she and Lincoln had told Lynn not to worry about it. The sporty Loud was surprised to hear the child prodigy talk like this. It was more aggressive than usual, but she understood.

"Alright… Hey, Lisa… I just noticed you didn't say 'if' we get her back. You said 'when'. Normally you'd have told me 'if and when we get her back'," Lynn pointed out the odd discrepancy in her little sister's style of talking.

"Precisely… I've gone through many things that have taught me to never get your spirits up and don't go in expecting the best results right away… But Lincoln certainly taught me that you can most certainly always hope for the best," Lisa confessed hesitantly. Lynn chuckled a little from hearing that, but she then noticed the light over her flickering on and off repeatedly.

"Wait… Lisa, do you think that the riddle could be talking about shadows? Because they are everywhere…" Lynn quirked. It sounded odd but it made some sense to her for the riddle. Lisa scratched her head, having to ponder that for a moment.

"That's certainly a possibility… But the shadows literally means everywhere in Royal Woods, as well as the world, and sadly, we only have three hours left to find the disguised textoth," Lisa repeated, but her older sibling was not done with the possible riddle answer, yet aware that BelGaner would not give them something truly impossible.

"Lisa, I'm not talking about the shadows… I'm talking about something in them, something watching that moves away when I get closer, but it wants to stay close to me," Lynn explained. That made a lot of sense to Lisa.

"I'll let you capitalize on this lead. I have a feeling you're getting paranoid now, and frankly, that is a good thing," Lisa then hung up. Lynn put the cellphone away, noticing the street light going off completely this time.

"The seekers meant to come after the hider… not the other way around… Unless they figured out…!" Lynn heard the sounds of sudden running, the boots of someone clacking against the concrete ground behind her. Guardian Black jumped up and did a roundhouse kick, her leg clashing with the side of her surprise attacker's head with full force.

"Grah!" The man fell back first to the ground. He looked like a greaser bully from the nineties.

"So you're after that Gruynithil I have, aren't you?" Lynn glared down to him. She knew that the person was after the Gruynithil in her duffel bag. Gamban or BelGaner must have caught on and realized that they had stolen the alien metal, thus he had ordered one of the disguised textoth to try and get it back. Lynn cracked her knuckles. "Well, whether you're a textoth or a thief, I'm going to cave your head in, starting now."

The disguised textoth, well aware that he was caught, tried to get up desperately, only for his feet to get knocked out from under him, causing him to fall again.

"Wa-wait! This isn't where I was meant to be hiding! Do-over! Do-over!" The textoth requested, feeling Lynn's foot on the back of its skull of a head.

"Alright…" Lynn rolled her eyes, "I'll count down, and on zero, I'll start looking again…"

"Re-really?" The textoth looked to her.

"Zero," Lynn grinned. The textoth's head got crushed against the sidewalk as she curb stomped it, causing its disguise to fade instantly as it slowly began to turn to dust.

"You were the jack? I dunno, you kind of felt more like the joker to me," Lynn could not help but make the joke while picking up the jack card from the textoth's dust. She smiled, getting her phone out to let Lincoln know that she had eliminated the two textoth she had to deal with.

"We'll have you saved soon, Lori!"


	40. Lost?

Lori watched her body act on its own. She realized that going mentally crazy did nothing to give her control back and just made her mentally exhausted. Her body tended to Teronzata, trying to help his vine-like body into regenerating faster.

"I know as the greatest swordsman in the world, I should not question it… You may be my apprentice, but I do not recall giving any of these orders," Teronzata lay at the recovery wing of the castle, where monsters could be healed, repaired and helped, and textoth skeletons could be rebuilt from their dust in a weird Xeran version of recycling.

"I'd kill you right now if I could believe me," Lori thought. Sadly she was unarmed and not in control. Her unwanted master lightly laughed.

"I know it was dumb to ask. You have no personal motivation for anything at the moment. It's funny… when I first was recruited for the Xeran, I could not go more than a few days without being back in this healing bay, and when the first dimensions war occurred, we managed just barely to win through all this chaos," the plant sword master began to talk, reminiscing about the past from another dimension. Clearly all the generals that worshiped the majesty, had been with him for a long time. Teronzata being one of the first generals recruited.

"I don't remember anything about my recruitment, though… None of us really do. I just remember being bestowed the honor of being one of the majesty's generals. I then decided to become the best swordsman in the world. It was just an overwhelming desire that came from nowhere."

"Really now…?" Lori thought in question. Why would all of the majesty's generals have their memories damaged like this, she wondered, she presumed beforehand the majesty was lying to his loyal fellow Xeran followers, but the Xeran leader seemed to be in a similar position to them. She had no idea if it was scary or impressive, to be able to be driven to battle blindly for what was most likely thousands of years, fighting hard yet not knowing what for.

"Each dimension is so strange and different. Dimension 4 was certainly rough, may have been the only war the Xeran have ever lost, but we left the people of that dimension a surprise. You could say, that dimension has a curse on their race," Teronzata finished rambling while Lori finished tending to one of his other wounds. She did not know what to think. It was scary to imagine all those innocent lives lost, and entire planets destroyed with their essence taken, from children, adults, elders, and even animals. The Xeran truly were terrifying. Lori was somewhat thankful that they did not waste time on animals and children right away, since they had such little essence.

"It sounds horrible, but… at one point, all Xeran generals were humans that were granted the majesty's transcendent gift to evolve to a higher race. I'd like to think I once was a good man, but after the first battle… that was no more. The essence… the feelings… it all was so much at once, that it just became so easy to adapt to fighting." Teronzata exclaimed. Without his memory, he may never know what his old self was like, which was terrifying to Lori, because the majesty still was strongly considering turning her into a Xeran monster. She doubted that he wanted her as a general anymore, but a Xeran monster was another tool for their race. She was scared of forgetting her family, primarily.

"I wish I could say I cared and wanted to know more about you… But all you did was ruin my life, all because you tried to get my Bobby boo boo bear to join your stupid group," Lori could only think as her body remained idle to her master. She could only hope her family was alright.

* * *

"I can't believe I've burnt all this time… for not even one clue," Lincoln panted, stationed on a rooftop for an apartment complex. This was probably the thirtieth rooftop he searched. He had done his best to check out as many roofs as possible, just for his riddles directions, and he had found not one thing efficient to helping with winning to game.

Lincoln heard his phone ring, hearing his fellow guardian calling him. He stared off into the distant sky as he then talked. "Hey, Lynn…"

"Hey, Linc. I just finished checking this farm and its workers, everything checks out… And there's nothing weird about the roosters here," Lynn claimed. Lincoln held his head tiredly. They were both trying their hardest to search the city as much as they could for anything that this could lead them toward the answer to their last riddle.

"Darn… I don't think I can go any further, Lynn… my breath's gone, my legs are weak, and time might is about up…" Lincoln apologized. The time on his phone was 5:40am, and they had twenty minutes to somehow solve the riddle, to find and kill the textoth hiding behind it. It was upsetting them both.

"Have you called Lisa? Look, I know we may be stretched for time, but giving up is not your thing," Lynn replied.

"I… you're right…" Lincoln sighed. He decided to add Lisa to the call in a conference phone call to get help from her. He did not like to give up after all, but even so, things were looking bleak.

"Salutations, siblings. Did you win the game yet?" Lisa asked. She had stayed up all night for them, just in case they called.

"No. We're stuck on the last riddle… The last two textoth came after us instead of hiding, but the last one really has us stumped," Lynn explained, while Lincoln pulled out the card from his pocket that had the riddle written down on it, so he could read it out to his sibling.

"A rooster lays an egg on top of a roof. Which side does the egg roll down?" Lincoln read it aloud while watching the light slowly begin to illuminate the city during the crack of dawn.

"…Lincoln, Lynn, you two realize that male gallinaceous birds do not lay eggs, correct?" Lisa requested.

"Oh… I think I'm going to pass out now," Lynn was ready to black out. Lincoln could only apply his palm to his face in embarrassment. The only reason they forgot this simple fact was because they had been working all night and straining their minds and every last ounce of energy out of themselves, just to get this done, and now their mind had been letting them down toward the end of the night, they were that tired.

"S…so, did BelGaner really just give us a trick question?!" Lincoln asked, before hearing a beeping noise. He looked down at his now turned off cellphone.

"Oh… I forgot to charge it before we left home last night," he weakly coughed. He had no idea what to do now, "I'm sorry, Lori… I got tricked by those monsters into an impossible to win game…"

Lincoln looked at the earth far down, where few people were just starting their day. Failure seemed to surge through even his veins.

"Greetings, Red Star," an all too familiar voice spoke out. Lincoln turned around to see BelGaner standing before him. Guardian Red took out the queen card and threw it at the general of strategy, it landed in front of his feet.

"Satisfied now? I got one riddle, but I can't get the other! You promised this would be a fair game with no luck involved… Yet you made it impossible to win!" Lincoln exclaimed, watching him pick up the queen card. However, Guardian Red could not see a flintlock revolver or golden harmonica on BelGaner like he usually had. He was confused by it, yet suspicious.

"I gave you riddles, and it was up to you to solve them…" BelGaner stepped beside him, "The last time I checked, Guardian Red, there is still some time left. Approximately… seven minutes."

"And here I thought you were a Xeran of honor… or at least had some kind of moral code. Guess I was wrong," Lincoln replied, wishing he had listened to Lynn now and attacked the general when they first stumbled upon the location of where the game was being hosted. He was mortified by the mere thought of never having the chance to win, or save Lori to begin with.

"Xeran have no honor. We have no friends. We have nothing but the essence to gather, and the majesty to bring into this dimension," BelGaner replied. Lincoln felt the hairs on his head stand a little on end. He pulled his red curve tipped star out of his pocket, subtlety slipping it into his guardian gauntlet, watching it close and lock before the three claws extended out.

"Then why did you take Lori? You said it was to save your friend from death. That plant weirdo… Teronzata, right?" Lincoln questioned. There was a big discrepancy that made him notice that as well.

"A mere charade. I hope you'd at least have known," the general of strategy claimed. His once vast vocabulary seemed to have vanished in the night's span of time.

"If I can't save Lori, I guess there's only one thing left to do…" Lincoln gripped onto the safety rail on the roof of the building. They were eighteen floors high, so a fall from this high would, for Lincoln, for most living beings, end it all.

"Failure is an unacceptable thing. She may have been close to you, but now she is nothing," BelGaner's words cut Lincoln like a knife.

"I can't… can you just push me already and get it over with?" Lincoln requested, his own despair showing to the general, "How can I go home when I let one of my sisters die? …I just can't."

BelGaner put a hand on his shoulder. "With pleasure."

Before the general of strategy could react, Lincoln slammed his elbow into his stomach stunning him. Lincoln swung his head back, smashing it into the mechanical soldier's jaw. It hurt a lot and made his teenage skull ring out in pain.

"Now cut the disguise! I know you aren't BelGaner!" Lincoln turned around and slashed the fake BelGaner across the chest, causing an eruption of smoke and sparks to burst from the chest, stunning them. The disguise faded quickly, unveiling the textoth dressed like a king.

"Ho-how?!"

"You're not as smart as BelGaner. You just came here to rub the loss in my face, before the game was done, and I know he'd never do that. I may not know about the guy, but I saw a video of him talking about his friend Teronzata. But you, Mr. Fake, got close enough like an idiot for me to get you. Did you really think I'd kill myself?" Lincoln grinned. The textoth was scared as the young boy took the king card from its side, before punching the skeletal warrior in the face.

"That was a trick, just like your stupid riddle. …and here's another thing; never mess with my family!" Lincoln gritted his teeth, digging his feet into the ground as he turned hard, and threw the textoth over his shoulder. The skeleton warrior went flying off the building's rooftop, followed with a scream that faded out before a loud crash, and then a car alarm going off.

Lincoln, after a second of regaining his breath and composure, picked the queen card up off the ground, then went over and looked down at the ground below. From what he could tell, the textoth king was dead and turning into dust after it landed on the hood of a truck, a lot of its bony body shattered by the impact. There was one very confused man standing in front of his truck, looking like he was ready to go straight back inside and go back to bed.

"Huh? Did… Did we win?" Lincoln wondered if they had defeated all four textoth in time, he then noticed the cards glow, and a portal opened beneath his feet. The surprised Lincoln fell into it, and it closed behind him, just as the sun finished rising with the fourth textoth dead.

"Finally...I don't know if I can stay awake much longer..."


	41. Reunited

"Not again!" Lincoln cried as he fell from the air through the portal. However, instead of a painful landing, something caught him. He hesitantly opened his eyes to see about five textoth holding him, having broken his fall. They stood him back onto his feet.

"Lynn?" Lincoln looked over to Lynn, seeing her punching the few textoth that had caught her during her fall, she was not grateful in the slightest. Once they were all knocked down, she got up, feeling sick just like him. Guardian Red went right over to her, trying to calm her down, but he realized what made Guardian Black so worked up now.

"Wh-what's going on?" Lincoln questioned. They were in the small music concert area again, the textoth no longer in the stands but surrounding the stage, like an ocean of trick-or-treaters that refused to remove their costumes. It was terrifying to see an army of this size around.

"Six o'clock has struck. The game is over. The cards were enchanted to bring you straight back here when all four were no longer within their hosts' bodies," BelGaner was sat before them, polishing his golden harmonica, Gamban standing nearby.

"So are you now going to try and kill us because we won?!" Lynn stomped forward, the mechanical Xeran general holstering his cherished instrument.

"These textoth are not combatants. They are an audience, per say… I believe you two have earned this," BelGaner motioned her to calm down. They heard loud clapping, among other odd noises the textoth made that could only be assumed to be congratulatory cheering.

"So… we won?" Lincoln requested, the stress and his own anxiety killing him.

"Yes. You wouldn't be here if you didn't," Gamban commented.

"Allow me to extend my condolences, Gamban…" The mechanical Xeran pulled out his flintlock revolver, confusing the three of them on stage.

"What do you mean, master?" Gamban was confused.

"I know you tried to cheat. You sent out an order to those textoth hiding last night to attack the red and black star children. Only two agreed to abide by your insolence…" BelGaner explained while spinning the chamber of his gun repeatedly, as if his patience had grown thin.

"He did?" Lincoln could only say. The disguised textoth did attack Lynn once, and one confronted him on the roof earlier when attempting to antagonize him into committing suicide. It was actually a very odd plan when he thought about it.

"Red Star, Black Star, the surprise for winning the game, as I informed you, is keeping that Gruynithil I know you forcibly made acquisition of… Gamban here has been acting far too independently, and cheating is something that is frowned upon in a fair game… While I fetch Larissa, I'll allow you to best Gamban without any textoth interference you," BelGaner explained. Gamban was so shocked that cards fell out of both sleeves onto the ground around him.

"Really?!" Lynn gleefully asked with a grin.

"Larissa?" Lincoln chirped, watching BelGaner and the textoth army vanish into multiple portals, leaving just the two of them and the Xeran Elite on stage.

"W-wait, hang on! Maybe we could play another game?" Gamban offered. Guardian Red began to rub his shoulder sorely before cracking his neck.

"You make sure that Gruynithil is safe, Lynn… I'll make sure he's dealt with," Lincoln assured, about to morph when his sister grabbed his hand and turned her rough tipped black star over to him.

"Here. I know you're way more exhausted than me… but this'll help," Lynn smirked, bumping fists with him before she hopped off the stage, to make sure that the gambling monster could not make any attempts to steal the alien metal back.

"If you think I'm going to be scared of one kid, you're in for a surprise," Gamban declared to his opponent.

"I'm ready to explode with how much rage I've been building this last week…" Lincoln glared back, and smirked, "I'm ready to let that out, right here, right now!"

Lincoln inserted Lynn's black star into the back of his guardian gauntlet, watching it close for a moment before opening. The star had indeed vanished. He then inserted his red curve-tipped star, watching the gauntlet close and lock securely. Lincoln began burning brightly with red and black essence brightly showing outside of him.

"Uh oh…" Gamban gulped, watching a large wave of black fire begin spraying from the red guardian's weapon. Lincoln spun around rapidly, letting the black smoke and flames cover his body.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln stepped out of the smoke, unveiling his now dark red scaly guardian suit, slimmer than what Lisa initially designed. The silver lights on his helmet glowed both black and red. His clawed gauntlet looked different, the white V on his chest combined with the spiral patterns from Lynn's suit, the white lines filled in with yellow.

"Lock in!" Lincoln reached up, grabbing the front and back of his helmet, hearing it clunk securely into place.

"Guardian Red! Dragon mode! Defender of the essence that gives determination to all life!" Lincoln struck his pose, slightly leaned forward like a dragon cornering its prey. He readied himself, tapping the side of his helmet and making the visor close.

"Come at me!" Gamban made several joker cards appear from his sleeves before throwing them all at the guardian in dragon mode, the cards glowing bright red before they began exploding all around him. Lincoln however would have none of it. He jumped toward the Xeran Elite, dodging the explosions while he could.

Gamban felt the teenager grab onto his back before he began to slash away with his gauntlets claws. Lincoln then kicked the Xeran Elite in the back, and he rolled backwards on the ground to quickly get back to his feet.

"Dragon embers!" Lincoln aimed his guardian gauntlet, making it blast a small stream of fire that hit Gamban. The Xeran Elite screamed as sparks and smoke began exploding from his body.

"Wow… I didn't think it'd be so different," Lynn commented, watching her brotherly boyfriend use dragon mode to every advantage he could. He wasn't giving Gamban much chance to fight back. Guardian Black remembered that when she used dragon mode, she could be far more aggressive and shatter armor with ease. Now that Guardian Red used dragon mode, he became a lot faster and more precise with where he struck. Their stars filled with their own personal essences, when combined, seemed to change their personalities and skills.

"That's it! I may not have textoth, but I have the next best thing!" Gamban threw out a deck of cards, watching the many skeletal warriors in varying weird costumes begin popping out and transform from the cards, their bone weapons drawn already as they charged for the Loud boy, some armed with staffs, others with knives and others with regular jagged scimitars.

"You throw all the cards you want, Gam-bum, but last time I checked, paper tends to burn real easily!" Lincoln informed as he ducked under the first sword swung at him. He grabbed that textoth by the arm and spin-threw it at another two, knocking them down.

Guardian Red got hit in the chest by a flail. The impact alone made sparks and smoke explode from his chest, thankful to the scaly texture of his suit currently that helped absorb the hit. Another hit him overhead with their scepter, the clang echoing in his head. Several more textoth went slash crazy all over his body.

"I got a bad feeling they're just making him angrier," Lynn just watched idly, not worried at all for him. She would be worried if he cried her name for help, but as far as she knew, these textoth were just copy clones made from cards, lacking much essence. Making them somehow even a weaker copy of what was already a weak throwaway henchman to the Xeran race.

"Slash!" Lincoln lashed in a full circle around himself with his claws fully out, leaving a red aura trail behind him and knocking back a dozen textoth with smoke and sparks rising off their wounds. He then slammed his fist in the ground, making his gauntlet spray out dark black smoke that began to fill the entire stage within seconds, blinding all of the monsters' views.

One textoth squealed as its back got slashed from bottom to top. Textoth began to fall left to right, as they would suddenly have one body part explode with sparks of smoke and flame embers before disintegrating into dust. Like an assassin was creeping around taking them out, one by one.

"What are you fools doing?! Start swinging!" Gamban ordered, but by the time he shouted that order, there was nothing but piles of dust all over the stage with playing cards in them. The smoke was cleared, leaving the dark red guardian standing there.

"I know I'm supposed to not like you because you're Xeran… But just looking at you, of all Xeran, makes my mouth sour," Lincoln claimed. Most Xeran Elites did not leave that poor taste in his mouth. He presumed it was just the all night work and the pressure to save Lori that was making things feel like this. The Loud boy only just now realized that Lisa had not been in contact with him, he guessed that the child prodigy finally fell asleep after the long night, not that he could blame her.

"I am the first of the Xeran that had received the honor of confronting your world's army… and I can tell you right now that there is not one fighter I left alive at the base I attacked. I took every last drop of essence they had straight to the majesty, just like I'm going to do to you!" Gamban threw a dozen aces at Guardian Red. Lincoln put up his guard, feeling the cards stick all over the front of his dragon mode guardian suit.

"…I think you ran out of tricks," Lincoln coughed. Nothing happened as he brushed the cards off his body. This stage was going be a giant pile of dust and cards not tended to by the end of this battle.

"What?! That should have sucked you dry in a second flat!" Gamban was furious. He began to make a row of joker cards come out of his sleeves and into his hands, ready to bomb the whole place with a decks worth of them.

"Lincoln! I think you need to stop him now, or else Luna has nowhere to perform!" Lynn called out, reminding her brother of their older sister's opening act tonight that slipped his mind.

"Right, right, sorry, sorry!" Lincoln took aim with his guardian gauntlet, watching it absorb red and black essence from his arm. It actually hurt slightly. The gambling monster threw the joker cards that began to turn red, as they filled the air like molten snowflakes.

"Guardian finisher! Dragon's roar! Engage!" Lincoln fired a giant wave of fire, both the black and red stars shooting out within the flames as they engulfed and destroyed the cards before they could explode. Gamban screamed as he got hit by the flames, beginning to spark and smoke as he ended up cooked alive, his fedora quickly turning into a pile of ashes.

"I guess I should have upped the ante…!" Gamban fell backwards off the stage, exploding upon contact with the ground. With the Xeran elite defeated, Lincoln morphed back to normal, tired. He held his hands up, catching the black and red stars as they came back.

"Whew…" He panted. The stars were burning hot, but he tolerated it. Lynn cheered for the great show of a battle he put up. Gamban's essence sphere clattered and rolled to the ground, until it was stopped by a mechanical hand.

"Most impressive, red star," BelGaner picked up the essence sphere, Lincoln and Lynn's attention going to him. There beside him stood Lori in the flesh, still obviously possessed.

"You won this game fair and square… The Xeran won in another sense. But the agreement of the game was for me to release Larissa of the majesty's essence if you won, so that is what I shall do." BelGaner held the essence sphere up, watching it begin to pull the dark purple essence out from Lori. When the last of it was removed, the oldest Loud collapsed.

"Lori!" Lincoln and Lynn rushed straight over to her. BelGaner pulled the sword handle and a star from his pocket, dropping it in front of the red and black guardians, they were what remained of Lori's weapon and her dark blue three pointed star. He held the essence sphere up over it, beginning to withdraw the majesty's essence from the star as well.

"May our minds clash again, guardians… Type 7 ammo fire," the general of strategy twirled his flintlock revolver and spun the chamber, and then shot the air, a portal breaking open as result. They watched him enter it, the portal closing behind him, leaving them there in the slightly battle-scarred concert building.

"I guess this was hers before I went crazy with dragon boxing…" Lynn muttered. The three pointed tip star was now grey, as if it had the life sucked out of it.

"Who's Larissa…?" Lincoln wondered, before hearing a weak groan. He watched as his oldest sister's eyes slowly fluttered open again.

"Lincoln? Lynn…?" Lori spoke tiredly. She had not been permitted rest in these last few days. The Xeran generals perhaps had forgotten that humans required a lot more of certain things than they did.

"Lori! You're really back…" Lincoln said, or at least hoped it wasn't a trick.

"I'm so sorry for beating you up like I did!" Lynn immediately apologized as she and Lincoln hugged their eldest sister. They both felt like crying, after last near two weeks of a living nightmare that the Xeran had created for them that they had been through.

"Why are you apologizing…?" Lori wondered, "I stabbed one of you and beat the other up until they cried."

"It's not your fault I'm weak…" Lincoln chuckled while not letting go of her.

"We wouldn't be heroes if we cared about every little cut and bruise either," Lynn claimed. The oldest Loud girl still was surprised at what she had seen out of the two of them.

"So you're the guardians that have been keeping Royal Woods as safe as you can? I guess I should've figured it out well before our fight," Lori commented.

"Yeah… that's us," Lincoln nodded. Neither he nor Lynn could deny that, especially not now.

Lori broke the embrace, going over and picking up the grey star and the broken blade. "You guys saved me from becoming more of a monster than I already was. I had to watch every last thing I did… from beating my family and helping a bunch of freaks trying to destroy the world. If I could make up for letting all of this happen, I would."

Lincoln and Lynn watched light blue essence began to swirl up around from her forearm to the grey three point star, as it absorbed the light blue essence, and began to change from grey to bright baby blue.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking?" Lynn asked her brotherly boyfriend.

"As usual," Lincoln smiled.

Lori looked to them with her items in each hand, and smiled back.

"I'll make it up to you both our family… and of course the world."


	42. Return

**Authors Note: I apologize dear viewers, for not updating yesterday. I was in hospital due to a bad foot infection, it still isn't treated remotely. But I'm back and able to write again, sorry once more. I hope you all enjoy.**

It had been an extra loud Saturday morning today, after they had won the game and gotten Lori back. Lincoln and Lynn had the little energy to tell her everything before they took her straight home, though both were very tired from the all-nighter for the game, so Lori wound up carrying Lynn on her back and Lincoln in her arms. It made for an interesting sight for the Loud family when their runaway daughter returned on foot, looking tired with two of her younger siblings asleep and being carried by her.

Lori had been greeted by a very mixed response across by all but Lisa, Lincoln, and Lynn who were asleep in their rooms, leaving their oldest sister in the living room surrounded. Lori was normally a part of the family mobbing. It was odd to be on the other side of this, but not surprising. She had left her three-tipped blue star and the broken handle of her sword in Lisa's hiding place for where she stashed away the Gruynithil metal.

"Oh, honey, you had us so worried! Where have you been?" Rita hugged Lori tight, worried since her daughter had just left abruptly, even more so when the Loud family was fed the lie that she had run away.

"I've just been around town. Lincoln and Lynn just happened to find me on their way home from Clyde's," the blonde girl sighed, knowing this was going to be a lot of lying. Thankfully her injuries had healed up enough to be just tiny scratches and bruises now, so it looked like she had just taken a little tumble down a few steps. The Louds' mother did not seem to like that nonspecific answer, guessing her firstborn couldn't go recounting everything she had done while away and everywhere she had been. Rita broke the embrace, aware that she was squeezing her daughter too hard.

"We're sorry if we ran you off, Lori," Lynn Sr. Apologized. The note did read that she would be back when she felt like it. The eldest sister had been filled in by the two guardians about how they had covered for her disappearance. They all knew it would be worse if the family knew the truth that she was consumed by the majesty's corruptive essence and kidnapped by the Xeran army.

"Don't worry. It wasn't anyone's fault. I just needed some time to think, that's all," Lori replied, trying to calm her father down. The Loud father was unsure how to handle this type of thing. None of their children had ever run away before. It was an experience they hoped to never happen. When they were raising Lori, there seemed to just be an unending stream of stories about children going missing, turning up deceased, kidnapped, and all around vulnerable because they ran away instead of seeking help.

"Bobby has been calling a lot since he couldn't get you to answer your phone," Lana stated. The Santiago boy had probably called twenty times a day, no matter what the supposed news about Lori was.

"He's scared you're trying to dump him," Lola added with her twin. They could not blame Bobby for fearing that outcome.

"My phone went missing. I guess it got stolen," Lori apologized. It was very unusual for her to be without her cellphone, as usually she had her eyes and hands glued to it very often. In actuality during their fight, Lynn had destroyed the phone unintentionally.

"Where'd you go, anyway? Lily was really sad without you," Luna brought over the infant Loud. Lily had a bright smile as she reached for Lori, who happily took her little sister with a smile, seeing Lily nuzzling into her and very joyful to see her back home again.

"Aw… I'm so sorry, Lily. I didn't mean to make you upset," Lori rocked the baby slightly.

"Goo goo," Lily cooed, just happy that someone she saw like a mother was back. Lincoln, Luna and Lori took care of Lily the most after all.

"I didn't really go anywhere. Just more kind of wandered until I was ready to come home… I couldn't miss your opening act tonight, after all," Lori responded to her rocker sister, aware that all of her family most likely would want some form of answer to their own questions. Luna smirked, unwilling to judge her sibling for what she did. It was her personal life, and if there were problems in it that required time away from home to think on something or solve a problem, then Luna would not care. She would have wanted the same from others if she found herself doing similar.

"You did scare us, Lori. You were really 'acting' up," Luan grinned, standing behind the couch, receiving a few groaners in response. The most shocking thing to the family was Lori laughing a little, as normally she would scream the aspiring comedian's name aloud in reply. But after being away from home so long, she found herself missing the bad puns.

"Bobby wasn't able to help you with your problem?" Lucy asked, since their oldest sister had gone to her boyfriend's house for the first few days before she went missing.

"I love Bobby boo-boo bear, a lot, but love doesn't fix everything," Lori replied, wishing that she really had just spent all that time with Bobby. He may have given her the essence sphere that corrupted her at that party, but she knew he didn't know what it was, and was just trying his hardest for her like always to just make her happy.

"…are you pregnant?" Leni suddenly asked out of nowhere. Everyone stared between the two oldest Louds, all eyes wide in shock, not terrified of the news but generally surprised by that inquiry. Mainly because it made a good lot of sense.

"Huh?! N-no, I'm not pregnant or anything, calm down!" Lori insisted. She would need to make some type of cover up, at least a story. This was just one of those times where she was unfortunately on her own, despite all the information Lincoln and Lynn had given her before they had fallen asleep. "I love you all. I just needed some time to think about my life… I just feel like… I'm doing nothing, you know? I hate to imagine being nothing more than an annoyance to you all..."

"Don't worry sweetheart! We love you a lot," their mother said, as Lori felt her family hugging her tightly.

"Yeah, honey. We'll help you whenever you need it!"

"We weren't the same without you."

"This house feels a lot emptier with one of us gone. The dark overlords were worried about my loyalty."

"I'm so glad Lincoln and Lynn found you."

"Goo-goo!"

"I guess you can say she was 'lost and found'."

"Luan!"

"Thank you, guys," Lori laughed, just glad to be back home and taking things easy. She knew to request something from her guardian siblings. The three members of the guardian project certainly were becoming quite known throughout town, and gradually the world. They praised the 'unknown' creator of the suits as a masterful, innovative and revolutionary genius, and Guardian Red and Guardian Black were being praised for being the heroic vigilantes against the Xeran race that they were. Police departments were being harshly ridiculed by the town now, all because they had no real means to fight the Xeran. It was hard to protect and serve, when they were too weak to protect themselves even.

* * *

"It is quite a shame that we lost my apprentice…" Teronzata looked over the many words engraved in his own blade, while seated in the throne room with the majesty and the rest of the generals, "The greatest swordsman in the world may never have another chance at gaining one again."

"In the end, she served a worth," Zeggfor commented. In the center of the throne room, the meteor sphere was glowing a rainbow of colors, lots of essence flowing through its holes as it spun around.

"Ohh… there's so much! It's beautiful! We can make our Xeran elites stronger now if we put this to use! That will definitely give us an advantage against the guardians," Mirayu happily cheered, eager to use this essence. A much more giant volume of essence in a majesty's heart could strengthen their Xeran Elites by tenfold.

"I must applaud you, BelGaner. You turned what once was a complete loss, into a profit… I made the correct choice of making you the general of strategy," the majesty complimented. BelGaner bowed, thankful for the praise. The honor of being that general made himself proud in turn.

"The true loser of chess is whoever knocks over the king itself… It's my pleasure to have achieved this goal for our race," the mechanical Xeran looked calm as usual while standing beside his dear friend Teronzata, glad that he, as the general of protection, was safe.

"Zeggfor," the majesty said, the grey horned monster stepping before the Xeran's leader and going onto one knee. The general of offense was ready for whatever the majesty wanted of him.

"It is your chance to redeem yourself… I still trust none of you going out there beyond one at a time. Therefore, I would appreciate it if things could proceed without me having to worry about you all squabbling like children," the majesty exclaimed as he reached into his chest. After a few brief moments, another one of his hearts was pulled out, the essence sphere swirling with a lot of the dark purple essence. He gave it over to Zeggfor.

"I will make you proud, your majesty. Do not worry," Zeggfor reassured. He went over to the meteor and held the essence sphere up to it, watching a rainbow of essence begin to enter it. After a few moments, the sphere had absorbed all it could and was glowing brightly, like it was about to explode. Zeggfor began to leave, ready to create a new Xeran elite.

"When we meet, Guardian Red… I will tear your head from your shoulders!"


	43. Disapproval

The day had passed by quite well for the Loud family now that Lori had returned, and late in the evening, everyone was getting ready for Luna's concert tonight. Even if she was just the opening act, it was a big moment in her musical career.

"I still do not understand why I'm required to attend… I have more important things to work on," Lisa said while Lori was helping her get ready. They were all in the garage, Lincoln was nearby with Lynn helping put the Gruynithil in the secret stash area the child prodigy had made within the wall of the garage, so none of the family could go stumbling upon the stuff and stealing it out of curiosity. The loud father would be furious to find out a hole had been made in the wall, but it was very well cut and hidden that it was impossible to see without being told about it.

"Because it's Luna's first big step in her career. Saving the world can wait for one night," Lori retorted while brushing her second youngest sibling's hair. Her own three-pointed blue star lay on the workbench, just beside the parts of the broken sword that were all regathered together.

"Are you sure you really want to join the Guardian Project, Lori? You were one of the candidates for the Guardian Black suit, yeah, but I figured after what the Xeran did to you…" Lincoln's voice trailed off. As far as they could tell, the Xeran's poor knockoff imitation guardian suit was completely destroyed with no trace left beyond the baby blue colored star, and the broken sword that she requested be repaired. He was concerned that the oldest Loud was traumatized and wanted nothing to do with the Guardian Project, mainly because it made them interact with the very alternate dimensional group who orchestrated her kidnapping.

"No, I'm not sure, but that's why I want to do it, so I can know," Lori replied, strangely not full of desire for revenge. Teronzata drove her insane with constant training exhaustion. When it was too much, BelGaner challenged her to a fight and had knocked her out to give her that much needed rest. Lori had no idea how to feel about the majesty's generals. They all had personal goals beyond just summoning the majesty into this dimension, clearly.

"Which is why I should stay and begin working on the third guardian suit," Lisa insisted, but Lori was not going to have any of it. Luna would be devastated if one of her siblings did not show up to her sort of concert without reason. Lynn whispered something to her brotherly boyfriend, reminding him of her request. Lincoln gulped, looking nervous about this, but he sighed. Having talked about it privately with her earlier, he did promise her that he would not cower out of this.

"Hey, Lori… we want to tell you something," Lincoln put the wall panel back once it was secure, and he and Lynn approached Lori now that she was done brushing Lisa's hair.

"Finally…" The prodigy breathed. She wished that she could relax and take things easy, but with the world in danger, no one aware to the gravity of the situation could really do that.

"Don't tell me Lincy that you're going to not allow me to join the guardians?" Lori responded, making the sad puppy dog eyes look in his direction. She knew his weakness, as much as a lot of his family did, and they would gladly use it to toy with him.

"N-no, Lisa had you lined up for the second guardian suit. It makes sense to let you be the third guardian… B-but we want to talk to you about me and Lynn," Lincoln responded nervously. He had no objections to her being the third guardian, just as long as Lori upheld their goal to protect lives, and by extension the essence the Xeran ever so desperately wanted from this world.

"What about you two? The whole dramatic guardian unveil thing is a bit late now," Lori joked. Lisa put her glasses back on, knowing where this conversation was heading.

"We're… uh…" Lincoln began to fumble over his words, nervous. Even if it was obvious, he was not good at putting it into words, Lynn couldn't watch her boyfriend make more of a fool out of himself than usual.

"Oh, for the love of… Me and Lincoln are dating now," Lynn came straight forward and said it. Lori had a raised eyebrow while looking between them both.

"Well… I wish I could say I don't approve, but I can't really say anything bad about you two now," Lori replied. Her younger siblings had saved her life after all she had done to them while possessed. She knew she had no right to criticize their desires at this point. She knew it would make her look ungrateful, and cruel.

"What? But you're one of the few who told me to tell him how I felt!" Lynn reminded their oldest sister. Lincoln already had regrets about talking to anyone about their new relationship now, even if it was his girlfriend's request.

"I better go fetch my freeze ray…" Lisa muttered while leaving the garage to get the item in case this fight got extremely volatile. They didn't need the entire house to hear it after all.

"I know, I was thinking it'd help you get over him or would have him gently put you down… I thought you were dating Ronnie Anne, Lincoln. What happened to that?" Lori was confused. She knew Bobby's sister had been dating her little brother. It was an odd coincidence but nothing too unusual, considering the Loud family's luck.

"It happened a little before we got together…" Lincoln justified for her, "Ronnie Anne dumped me after I tried to help her deal with some bullies bothering her, just because I was too protective. She has this weird thing about handling her own problems."

"I didn't know you were together…" Lynn apologized, feeling bad now for capitalizing on his grief like that. The Loud boy would have understood Ronnie Anne's motive for dumping him if he had been threatening every boy who dared to approach her, but as far as he could recall, he had never done that. His sisters would have killed him for that, after his former girlfriend would have.

"But look, Lori, I'm the one who insisted on giving this a chance and… I like it a lot. It makes me feel really good… Almost as good as saving the world does," Lincoln added, trying to get their oldest sister to not judge them too harshly for their incestuous relationship. They were well aware it was wrong, they had lost care for those worries by now. But the teenage couple would still hate it if any of their family hated them for it or looked at them as disgusting, or like the very monsters they fought.

"Calm down, Lincoln. Just because I don't agree with it, doesn't mean I'll go telling everyone about it. You did save my life, after all…" Lori explained, trying to calm the situation down, "You two are risking your lives daily to fight the Xeran. The last thing anyone should care about right now is who you are in love with."

"What are you trying to say?" Lynn requested, tapping her foot impatiently. Lincoln was not sure what he could say in this conversation that would make things calm down.

"I'm just saying, I will never approve of it, but I'll support your decisions. It'll take some time for me to get used to it… but look, no matter what, I love you both… You know that, right? That's why I want to fight with you guys. You two feel like my children," Lori confessed how she felt on the matter. Even if she did not act like it, this was how she truly felt. She had helped raise almost every one of her siblings growing up, so it had more or less given her a motherly disposition. The only reason she was unable to help raise Leni was because she was only a year old when she was born.

"Thanks, Lori," Lincoln went over and hugged his oldest sister, Lynn joining in after a few moments. Lori let out a sigh of relief. She was not afraid of them, but after that brawl in the park with Lynn, she could not help but slightly hesitate and worry about upsetting them.

"We love you too… We were terrified we wouldn't get you back," Lynn admitted. They seemingly had a bright future ahead of them. Soon they would have three guardians able to face the Xeran together.

"Oh, good. I didn't need this after all…" Lisa appeared with the freeze ray with her, just to notice them hugging, and them noticing her. She was glad she did not need to freeze anybody.

"Kids! It's time to go!" Rita called out. The trio ended their embrace.

"Come on, let's get going," Lynn insisted, "Or else we're going to get the bad seats in Vanzilla!"

"You know, the three of you together can just claim the middle seats," Lori stated. Being in a van filled with thirteen people made things hard, especially for those fighting for seats. Lincoln had tried several times to get the best seat, but he had given up when his sisters caught onto his plan. He still was not the biggest fan of being at the kids table every dinner.

"Lisa gets the best seat, and me and Lynn get middle and right?" Lincoln suggested.

"Sounds excellent," Lisa smirked.

"Alright. Come on, before we can't do anything!" Lynn said as the four of them left, turning off the garage lights. When they got back, production on a new guardian suit would begin immediately.

* * *

"Hmm… so these are one of this dimensions common transport methods? Things really are not much different in some dimensions," Zeggfor wandered through a train yard, holding the brightly glowing essence sphere that made for a perfect light source, compared to the moon and the few lights surrounding the area.

"What's this?" The general of offense approached one of the many trains left here, however there was something different about it. The locomotive looked very old and outdated compared to the other trains, it had passenger carts attached to the back even though it was a train yard meant for delivering and receiving cargo.

"Bobba, I can't believe you're still wasting your time out here," a male voice chimed up in the night. Zeggfor gripped his hand around the essence sphere before hiding away, aware that the guardians somehow were able to quickly find out whenever there was Xeran activity going on. Making his presence known was not the wisest move at the moment when he wanted to create the first improved Xeran elite.

"Charlie, you're just upset that I won't take the two-hundred grand those history museum folk are offering," the female voice spoke. Two of the train yard workers approached the rundown locomotive with some toolboxes in hand.

"This thing isn't gonna run anytime soon. It's two-hundred years old. That's so old that the fact it isn't falling apart is a miracle alone," Charlie complained. The locomotive was one of the earliest ones built from the 1800s. It had its run, but due to a stubborn family line with plenty of income, the train was not going anywhere. It had been getting upgraded and repaired gradually day by day.

"This train may be old, but it's strong. It broke through dozens of bandit blockades back in its day. It sure isn't going anywhere soon," Bobba replied. Zeggfor grinned, his sharp teeth showing as he looked up to the smoke stack. The general tossed the essence sphere upward. The two workers saw the small glowing ball of bright light as it landed into the smoke stack, clunking loudly as it rung out against the metal.

"What was that?" Charlie quirked.

"Dunno… Probably just a bird dropping a shiny rock," Bobba said. The ancient locomotive suddenly began to glow brightly, the two stepping back in utter shock as the train began to shrink in size, changing into a Xeran elite monster.

"Oh my gosh!" they screamed in terror at the sight of a black, metallic monster with train wheels on its shoulders and hips, the smoke stack on its head, and a metal frame on its face beneath its red eyes.

"Xerain! You are the first improved Xeran Elite! Show me what you can do!" Zeggfor ordered, aiming for the two workers, both of who were too paralyzed with fear to run. Xerain let out a huff of smoke from its head before the wheels on its sides began turning. It suddenly charged right for the two at a blazingly fast speed. The two's cries filled the night air. Zeggfor laughed as he absorbed the fallen's essence into himself. All that was left after the attack were two limp bodies, and a train cart with a large dent at the side of it.

"Guardian Red is not going to know what hit him… come, Xerain. We have much more work to do," the general of offense smirked, as he and Xerain began to leave.

"A rampage sounds good, for a test..."


	44. Rampage

Zeggfor and the new locomotive Xeran Elite were arriving to a small area full of mainly all apartment complexes, they had been made cheap for workers to inhabit without having to worry about traveling very far to get to work. It seemed like a good place to start their rampage.

"A prime candidate of practice zones… Xerain, do not hold back, go on a complete rampage, and gather every last ounce of essence. I must go and report to the majesty of your creation, I'll help you when guardian red and black appears, do not fear." Zeggfor stated, Xerain nodding to his creator's orders.

"Just leave it to me, master! Nothing shall stop me!" The locomotive monster declared. The general of offense turned his back to him as a portal opened, he entered inside, the portal closing behind him. The Xeran Elite focused his attention on the biggest apartment complex in the area, at the end of the road.

"Next stop, essence City!" Xerain laughed, letting out smoke from the stack on his head before steam released from its jointed wheels, which began to spin fast. The train monster took off down the road at mach speed, as fast as a bullet train on a speed rail, the sound of the asphalt road beneath the Xeran Elite's metallic feet screeching.

"Chaaaarge!" Xerain broke into the apartment complex, right through the wall of it with ease, and crashed through multiple parts, beginning to cause quite the earthquake for the building. The train monster kept crashing into any important looking support that kept the building standing straight, the people living in the apartments then trying to hurriedly escape.

"This place is going down!" Xerain crashed through another wall, and then screeched to a halt outside, as the building behind him began to fall apart and collapse, the sound of the people within wailing for help, as the earth shook violently with the building's destruction.

"Gwahahahaha! I've crashed through harder blockades on the rails!" Xerain laughed, holding his hand out toward the giant clump of debris that was left from the calamity he caused.

"The near dead can't hold their essence, though," Xerain began to see a rainbow variety of essence escape from the rubble, flying straight to him to be absorbed. The Xeran Elite took in every last drop of his victims' life force, as the sound of sirens began to ring out across the night air.

"What's this? More creatures trying to put the brakes on me?" Xerain asked after withdrawing the last of the essence that he could. Ambulances, fire trucks and police cruisers were requested and called immediately upon reports of an apartment building's collapse. Casualties were inevitably going to be off the scale.

"Hey, someone's coming from the smoke!" One of the emergency service responders spoke, presuming it to be someone injured but alive. When the paramedic went to help, all he received was a strong punch that sent him flying into one of the firemen.

"You're just wasting your time with them! Let's see if you can slow this engine down!" Xerain stood before them. The police requested here to help knew a Xeran monster when they saw one. The officers immediately drew their service weapons and opened fire.

"This is getting pathetic. Weren't there supposed to be two idiots in this dimension meant to fight me?" Xerain shook his head. His master Zeggfor had told him in thorough detail to be ready for the guardians to appear, and so far they had not. The officers finally ran out of ammo and were looking scared. Each bullet just bounced off the metal menace. The most damage the firearms did was slightly hurt his hearing.

"It's no matter. I'm here for essence… And I'm going to rampage!" Xerain's smoke and steam emitted once more as he charged right for the emergency responders, crashing into a fire truck and pushing it down the road, sending it crashing into other vehicles and running over everyone who had initially come to help those in the collapse of the apartments. Xerain may not be going as fast, but all these vehicles piled into a big junkyard, just enough for him to use to injure a vast number of EMTS, fire men and officers.

"Now die!" Xerain jumped back, and then charged right into the vehicles at full force, causing a large explosion. By now, people in the other complexes were evacuating and trying to run for their lives, screaming in terror.

"Where are the guardians?!"

"Why is no one trying to stop that thing?!"

"It's going to kill us all!"

Xerain was laughing maniacally while absorbing the essence of the fallen. In the confusion though, nearly all the police he had attacked had radioed in for help, and the sound of helicopters began to fill the air. The locomotive Xeran Elite looked up while absorbing the essence.

"Eh? Now that's just plain unfair," Xerain had no means to attack airborne enemies. The three police helicopters suddenly began to open fire on him with machine guns.

"Yeowch! Those actually sting!" Xerain shouted, feeling the impact of the combined assault. The train monster turned on his heels and charged for the other direction. The helicopters tried to keep up with him, but the Xeran Elite created a portal back to the eldritch realm to escape, and it closed instantly after he passed through it.

"We lost visual of the monster. Send in more emergency service responders," one officer ordered on radio, now that things were slightly safer with the Xeran Elite gone. At this point, Royal Woods was becoming a slowly escalating battleground. Xerain had hurt and taken the essence of perhaps more than a hundred people, in what was not even an hour.

* * *

"This is pretty packed," Lincoln and his family were in their seats at the music concert. It was full again, but hopefully this time there was no textoth hiding in the audience.

"Well son, when I was younger, this place always booked the best people. Seems like time doesn't change some things," Mr. Loud commented happy to see something from his childhood unchanged, he had brought his wife here on one of their dates, though the variety of music certainly had evolved over his years.

"At least we got good seats," Lori said, though she would sit in the worst seats in the entire building if she had to. She was just happy to be back with her family, the ordeal she had survived had really changed her perspective on a lot of life.

"Goo goo!" Lily cooed in Luan's lap. The comedian rubbed her baby sister's head, glad to see the infant Loud bright and cheerful again with the family reunited.

"I still feel like I need another… I dunno… thirty hours of sleep?" Lynn rubbed her eyes, seated beside her brother. They were both still exhausted from BelGaner's game. Lincoln was glad to have gotten some anger relief by destroying Gamban.

"Hey, can you take off your hat? We can't see," Lana asked the man sitting in front of them, and he seemingly ignored her. The height problem was annoying for the younger Louds since he was obscuring their vision.

"I'd help, but curses are more for long term agony, not short term convenience," Lucy said, Lola tapping the man's shoulder to gain his attention.

"Take. It. Off. Now." Lola growled. The man did as ordered. That look in the spoiled girl's eyes alone was terrifying.

"Lola, what do you say?" Rita reminded her daughter.

"Thank you…" Lola begrudgingly added and returned to the seat she was sharing with her twin. Lincoln couldn't help but lightly laugh, putting his hand in Lynn's, the two smiling to one another.

"Hey, Luna's about to start!" Leni pointed out. They took witness of Luna going on stage after being introduced to the crowd that seemed to genuinely welcome new faces to the music scene, though none of the Louds had really heard this song, whichever she had prepared. The two guardians had been too busy saving Lori from being a puppet. Lisa just had her mind overwhelmed by everything else to pay attention.

"First off, let me say thanks to the Blazing Bumper Brothers for giving me this opportunity to be the opening act. It means a lot to me," Luna stated. Now Lincoln remembered the band's name. He was not far off in citing it as sounding strange, but it seemed more tame than most.

"A lot's changing about our town. Things aren't as safe as they were when I was younger. It really isn't. That's what inspired this song. Hopefully this whole monster trouble will be gone before we know it," Luna spoke into the microphone. The crowd seemed to enjoy that, several already cheering for her. Lincoln, Lynn, Lori and Lisa hoped they could make the problem go away soon. After some preparations, she began to strike the guitar with her pick in a fast motion.

 **"Crooks are raiding our home; our country might be going down,**

 **Our planet's turning to waste, an we're around with a frown,**

 **Will we all be safe, or see disaster so great?**

 **Everything just quakes and shakes, while the future awaits!"**

The song had barely begun, but Lincoln was already enjoying it a lot. It was rare for only one person of the Loud family to be making all of the noise, but it was still great. The family just tuned in to enjoy the third oldest Loud's music.

"Huh?" Lincoln heard a small, next to drowned out ringing, hearing it coming from Lisa's phone. The child prodigy got out of her seat.

"I need to go to the lavatory, apologies," Lisa took leave. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow while looking to Lynn, both could see through her lies easily.

"I'll go with her," Guardian Red volunteered. He hated to miss Luna's first concert, but certainly at least ten people in this crowd were recording it anyway. He went off to catch up to Lisa as the two exited the main music area, going toward a more side part of the building.

"Lisa! Hey what's going on?" Lincoln asked, Lisa staring down at the missed phone call. There was a text message left by the caller. Lincoln went to her, looking over her shoulder to view her phone. "…Doctor Bruino?"

"Doctor Bruino Anderson was a former scientist, but when he realized his mind was not able to evolve as thoroughly as everyone else's, he stuck to veterinary research," Lisa explained, letting her brother read the new message.

 **"Dear Lisa Loud,**

 **I know this is out of nowhere, and I don't know if you're busy or not. Contact me immediately when you can and I can explain better… The military is coming to Royal Woods for serious business, I only found out because of my friend working for the general. Expect them to be there within three days. The Xeran destroyed an outpost a hundred miles or so away from Royal Woods, and the army is not pleased.**

 **Sincerely, Dr. Bruino Anderson"**

"So the army is coming?" Lincoln handed over the phone to his little sister, hoping that maybe Doctor Bruino was a joker like Luan. If so, he did not hesitate with the cruelest of jokes.

"It appears so, Lincoln… and as we know, the army isn't a fan of vigilante justice…" Lisa stated solemnly. Lincoln put his other hand on his guardian gauntlet, worried by how scared and upset she appeared, so terribly that she even looked ready to cry. The Loud boy took her up into his arms and hugged her.

"Lisa, what's wrong?" Lincoln asked, "I know it's scary, but we just have to wait until the military realizes we're the best option they have. Maybe they'll supply us with more Gruynithil if we talk to them?"

"Lincoln… Vernan was developing the Guardian Project for the army…! What if they're coming for me… or even worse, our entire family?" Lisa sniffled. Guardian Red instantly felt his heart sink, now that he knew why she was terrified.

"He-hey, hey, cheer up. There's no way they know who we are… Jessica Blakesten keeps our identities secret, remember?" Lincoln stated. He was too afraid to watch the news about their heroic acts lately, because knowing that a reporter was stalking both him and Lynn made the day a lot harder to get through.

"Lincoln, there aren't many geniuses in Royal Woods! Vernan's murder already has the army most likely wanting their weapons! Of course they'll cast their gazes to the smartest alive left in the city!" Lisa explained her logic to her newfound terror. Lincoln wondered who this supposed perfectly handpicked military soldier was, just out of his own curiosity. He wondered who the man originally meant to be guardian red was like, in all honesty the teenager wanted to meet him.

"We'll be fine, Lisa… Don't worry, just relax," Lincoln reassured. The soon to be three guardians would not allow anyone or anything to hurt their family as long as they could help it.

"Th-thank you… Lincoln…" Lisa sniffled in his arms, while resting her head on his shoulders. She acted like an adult most of the time, so much so that it was hard to forget she was going to be six years old in a few months. "You… understand the terror of the situation, though…"

"No problem. I'm protecting the world, after all. And you're all a part of my world," Lincoln smiled as he began to head back for the concert area, now that she had calmed down. He didn't mind carrying her all the way there, either.

"I love you all."


	45. Killer Heroes

**Authors note: I wanted to thank you all for the near 25k views, so here! A double update today.**

"Luna! You were awesome back there!" Lincoln and the Louds were relaxing at a small family restaurant. Now that the concert was over, they had all decided to get something to eat by going out for dinner instead.

"Heh, thanks little bro. It's just great to have Lori back and to see you so happy," Luna messed up her little brother's hair. Lincoln was just glad to be back with his whole family, though Lisa was very upset at the moment. She may not show it, but Guardian Red was able to pick up on it, and so did Lucy and Lynn.

"Yeah son you've been really bright lately. what's gotten you so joyful?" Lynn Sr. had noticed along with the family. Lincoln had become much brighter since a few weeks ago, aside from when Lori went missing. He was enjoying being a hero, a childhood dream he never imagined fulfilling in his life.

"Your grades are even starting to improve. Your history teacher said you got a B+ on your test, and that's your worst subject," Rita added, glad to see her only son improving with his schoolwork. Lincoln was hit and miss with gym class as well, but that also was changing.

"Well… I just started reading my schoolbooks a lot more than my comics lately," Lincoln tried to brush it off as nothing, feeling a little embarrassed at the sudden attention he was receiving. Guardian Red did not want to take any attention away from Luna, but she never cared or got jealous with that. Just having the chance to perform earlier that night in front of hundreds was enough to make her week the best in her life so far, next to her siblings' births.

"Oh… I thought those were just very thick comics," Leni stated. Whenever their brother was in the mood for reading, he would wear nothing but his underwear and socks around the house, not that anyone minded. Lincoln had been spending his times of peace, that he had been fighting for, by reading his schoolbooks instead of his usual comics.

"He's doing great at gym now, too. He's getting as fit as me," Lynn decided to add onto her brotherly boyfriend's unwanted attention, aware that it was embarrassing to him. Lincoln knew his girlfriend was doing it on purpose. Lynn grabbed one of his arms and forced him to flex. Lincoln did look to have grown a decently sized muscle, but it was nothing special as far as he cared. The only reason for that was because of all the fighting that the guardians did against the Xeran.

"It is certainly impressive and very commendable," Lisa smirked, not minding joining with Lynn on the teasing fun. Their brother did not mind compliments, but he got sheepish when all attention was on him. At least at the moment, the Loud parents were very proud of him.

"What's got you trying to get so strong and smart, bro?" Lana quirked.

"He ought to be a good king, just like how I'll be a great queen one day!" Lola stated with her mouth full of food.

"It'll be helpful for when I need him to help with my rituals," Lucy claimed. These occult rituals sometimes needed both brains and muscle to set them up.

"Gu-guys, come on… I passed one test. What's so weird about that?" Lincoln replied, though it was because it was seemingly coming out of nowhere, since he never felt like he had known himself until he became Guardian Red. After that point, he seemed to finally find and settle into his place in the world.

"I guess you really are 'testing' yourself lately," Luan could not resist, gaining a good round of groaners from everyone. Lily was just contently eating some of the food she was sharing from their mother's plate.

"Maybe he's trying to impress someone… maybe a certain girl?" Lori smirked. Lincoln was back in the awkward area. He knew his oldest sister was just lightly picking on his relationship with Lynn in a teasing manner, but the Loud girls were specialists at meddling. Guardian Red felt all eyes on him at the large table.

"That explains a lot," the Loud father smirked.

"Ohhh… Lincoln has his eyes on someone," Mrs. Loud smiled, and just as predicted, nearly all but four of his sisters were on him with a million inquiries.

"What's her name?!"

"Bro, you're really trying to become the ladies' man lately, aren't you?"

"Ohh…! I'll make a great coat that you can give her!"

"You've gotta bring her over! Does she like snakes, too?"

"Please tell us that you've asked her out already!"

"Have you told her how you feel yet? Going straight for 'I've been in love with you for a while' might work."

"Yeah, Lincoln, don't sweat it! You can tell us! We know how you 'feel'!"

"Luan!"

"Uh… I'm going to just go to the bathroom," Lincoln got himself out of there with an excuse, leaving the table. He could hear Lori, Lynn and Lisa laughing lightly while the rest of his family gossiped about him. He was at least happy about his family caring for him and being proud of his improving grades and physical stature, but they seemed a lot closer to the one Lincoln was in love with.

"Huh?" Lincoln arrived to the bathroom. Beside the two doors was the back exit where the workers would take garbage out back. A flashing red and blue light shined through the gap. Outside, a police officer and the head chef of the restaurant were talking.

"Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt if I go check it out…" Lincoln thought. Normally he would not pay any mind to police presence. Unless Clyde or Ronnie Anne was with him, they could go investigate together out of curiosity, but considering he was a guardian now, Lincoln had to make sure everything was alright, since every last thing the Xeran did, the police might know about.

"This can't be happening…" The head chef was seated on the stairs, Lincoln listening from the other side of the door after having opened it slightly.

"I'm sorry, sir, but… We tried our best, but your boyfriend still died," the police officer mused, "He was stable for a second, but his heart suddenly stopped beating, and we couldn't get him to stabilize again."

"What happened to cause this?" The emotionally destroyed chef requested. Lincoln decided to keep listening in case it was a sixth sense in his head screaming at him to not turn his back on what the Xeran may be up to this time.

"Sir, we're doing everything we can to discover the cause. Just…! No… I can't… I'm not saying the same crap I did many times before. The chief of the RWPD told us to not panic everyone, but how can I? I'm tired of sugar-coating a tragedy that had just happened, and leaving people crying with no answers," the officer began to speak in a ranting tone. The chef looked stunned to hear all of this, "Your homes been completely destroyed. The apartment complex got attacked by this monster train. The casualty rate has so far been nothing but fatalities."

"A monster did… what?" Lincoln wondered mentally. Hearing the fatalities made his heart sink.

"One-hundred and fifty dead… zero injured. Anyone they pulled from the wreckage was stable for maybe half an hour before they flat lined and could not be revived. It was like the life was sucked out of them," the officer wiped the beads of sweat off his forehead while sitting on the hood of his police cruiser, "One-hundred and fifty… over one-hundred and fifty people were in that building, and they're all dead because of those monsters! To make matters even worse, the guardians never arrived to help. Neither of them did. To follow, a bunch of emergency rescue responders died coming to help those people."

Lincoln could only stare at the floor, his head against the door. "I don't believe this…"

"What's the point of putting hope in people who don't care? They will sacrifice the few to save the many! Every time I hear about a monster appearing and murdering someone, I wonder if my family is alright, or even alive, but I can't just leave work. I have to sit at my desk and let two spandex wearing vigilantes working outside of the law do their part in the act! As far as I care, these guardians are the real murderers!" The officer paused for a moment, before he looked at the chef, "I'm sorry… if I could do something, just something to magic all those idiotic creatures away, I would.

"It's alright… there's no hope for our world, anyway…" the chef understood, but he had given up, "If those monsters ever attack me, I'll let them kill me. I've nothing left to live for."

Lincoln could only hear the same words repeating in his head.

"What's the point in putting hope in people who don't care?"

"They will sacrifice the few to save the many!"

"These guardians are the real murderers!"

He kept hearing those words so much that he had not realized his body had moved on its own to the bathroom, like he was too ashamed to be out there. Thankfully, no one else was in there at the moment.

"Calm down, Lincoln. It was just one upset guy talking in the heat of the moment," Lincoln tried to tell himself while splashing water on himself. He looked in the mirror, and then down to the guardian gauntlet, wondering if he really was protecting peoples' lives, or just having a personal war with the Xeran to selfishly protect nobody else but his family.

"Those Xeran attacked, while we were just relaxing… And because we relaxed, a lot of people are gone. Men, women and children… even animals and babies… all dead with their essence stolen, because of me relaxing!" Lincoln felt his head ache in agony from the stress of it all. Guardian Red knew anyone who had all their essence taken would inevitably die, unable to be revived, just like Vernan. Without essence, their bodies would give up, be broken beyond repair.

"…I got them all killed…" Lincoln weakly sobbed, his face buried in his hands.

"Hey bro, are you alright in there?" Luna knocked on the door of the bathroom, but received no response. Lincoln was lost in his own mind at the moment what little parts of it that weren't in pain.

"I'm coming in, bro… Mainly because the girls' bathroom is taken up," Luna then said, since the door was not locked. When she came inside though, she saw her only brother on his knees in front of the sink.

"Lincoln?! Are you okay?!" Luna rushed straight over to him and looked him over. He had minor vomit on his shirt. He had been throwing up into the sink after the stress and shock he had taken hard.

"Luna…? I don't… feel so good…" Lincoln rested his head into her chest, his head aching, and other parts of his body feeling numb. Luna could tell he had been crying. She wondered what could have happened in the less than ten minutes he was gone to do this to him.

"Just relax bro do you want me to get… Lincoln?" Luna was horrified at what she saw next. Lincoln's eyes had rolled into the back of his head and his body began to stiffen.

"Lincoln?! Oh gosh hang on!" Luna got her cellphone out to call 911. It was the only thing she could do to help her brother while she made sure he was breathing.

"We need an ambulance at the Star Orchard Restaurant! Please hurry! Something's happening with my brother!"


	46. Ex-Troubles

Lincoln felt his eyes slowly opening, hearing a beeping noise. His eyes burned slightly, trying to adjust to the bright light.

"Ugh… what happened to me?" Lincoln wondered, sitting up and looking around the hospital room he was in. He wondered how long he had been unconscious, looking down to his arm to make sure his gauntlet was there. He was glad no one knew how to take off his guardian gauntlet beyond him and Lisa. Guardian Red felt naked without it and would hate to have some doctor or nurse make off with an important world-saving item.

"Clyde?" Lincoln removed the vital monitoring leads that were attached to his chest, before he got out of the medical bed, seeing his best friend lying on a nearby couch for room visitors to relax. There were quite a few chairs around, a pretty clear giveaway that his entire Loud family had been here. Lincoln had no clue where they were now though.

"Hey Lame-o, good to see you're finally up," Ronnie Anne's voice caught his attention. The red guardian turned to see her standing by the door with a cup of coffee in her hand. She was wearing a purple coat with a white undershirt. The Santiago girl looked tired, still getting over the time she had been sharing a home and letting a disguised skeleton monster pretend to be her secondary mother, it had really messed up her sleep schedule with multiple nightmares.

"Ronnie Anne! Glad to see someone awake… kind of… what happened to me? And where is everybody?" Lincoln requested. The Santiago girl took a seat in one of the many open chairs, letting him sit down beside her.

"The doctors threw your family out early this morning, because they were always in the way. Me and Clyde got here about an hour ago. They literally had just allowed you to have visitors again... They were trying to make sure you didn't try to kill yourself," Ronnie Anne explained. His family was not here because Lincoln had been put through a series of physical suicide evaluation tests to make sure he had not swallowed any dangerous substances, harmed himself or had taken a form of drug in an attempt to end his own life. The doctors normally would allow family around, since that would help suicidal depressed patients, but the Louds were too big a family, they had to be forced to leave since they were getting in the way often.

"What? Why would I try to kill myself? I'm so happy lately… but I guess last night took the wind out of those sails for a bit, but still," Lincoln rubbed the back of his head, guessing that everyone leaned toward suicide because he had been so happy lately. The night someone gained a lot of joy and had this weird accident occur on the same night of a family member's important day, made the doctors assume that if he was trying to kill himself, he waited until after his last dinner with his family, a common tendency in most suicidal teenagers. Feigning joy, and when the time was right and they said what they felt was their subtle goodbyes, they ended it all.

"Trust me, I don't know why you would try to kill yourself, Lame-o. You've never been like that. But your family didn't buy it one bit. I think Lori actually punched the doctor," Ronnie Anne grinned, reassuring Lincoln that his family actually did have trust in him, refusing to believe that he had done anything to himself. Nobody liked doctors for their tendency to try and rule out the worst possible diagnosis first, sadly it was how some things had to be done, doctors had to be detached from their emotions to be efficient.

"Well… I'm sure that doctor was a jerk anyway. So what's the verdict for me? Am I dead and dreaming or slowly dying on a timer?" Lincoln questioned, Ronnie Anne raising an eyebrow. He recalled what happened last night now. The news about over a hundred people being murdered by Xeran in the span of one night, and his failure as a guardian was the last series of thoughts in his head before things went completely black.

"Lincoln, quit joking about that kind of junk. Otherwise it might come true… The docs said you had a stroke," the Santiago girl claimed, watching Lincoln take his IV out of his arm looking surprised to hear the diagnosis.

"A…a stroke?" Lincoln gulped, aware that it could be anything threatening to the brain.

"They said it was stress induced. Your blood pressure was through the roof when you came in. Just avoid salty food and that should help a lot, if stress is getting to you," Ronnie Anne claimed, before drinking from her coffee. She was just filling him in on what she had been told from a nurse. Lincoln felt slightly relieved to hear that part, guessing that the stress of everything all at once last night had gotten to him and could not be relieved in time, the military coming in two days was the least of his worries now.

"Thanks for letting me know," Lincoln smirked, looking happy again just to know he could fight once more and that his life was not ruined, he could continue protecting his sisters. He was about to go wake Clyde up, who was asleep with his coat acting like his blanket, but the Santiago girl stopped him.

"You're not the type to get stressed out from nowhere…" Ronnie Anne said, "Me and Clyde both know about your whole guardian deal."

"Wait, how did Clyde find out?" Lincoln requested. He was not surprised that his ex-girlfriend knew, since they exterminated that elite textoth on her very lawn. His ex pointed down to his guardian gauntlet.

"He actually noticed you were wearing the same thing that Guardian Red uses for a weapon. Your best friend has something most people don't nowadays, common sense, he knows what 2 plus 2 equals," Ronnie Anne joked, but she reassured the Loud boy that neither intended on telling the secret. Lincoln was not going around announcing it to everyone for a good reason. Only a few of his own family members knew about it to begin with.

"Well it's good to know I don't have to worry about my best friends now… I'm glad to see you at least talking to me for once without trying to hurt me," Lincoln commented. Ronnie Anne was surprised that he considered her a best friend, but considering she was one of maybe three friends at most that he had made, he had a lack of choices. His only other friend beyond them was Chandler, and no one else in school knew why.

"Well… I want to talk to you about something before you go leaving against hospital regulations," Ronnie Anne said while Lincoln was changing out of the hospital gown and back into his orange hoody and jeans, guessing his family had got new clothes for him. He was still recalling last night all too well as to what made his stress levels overboard.

"What about? If you really need me to confirm it, then yeah. Lynn's Guardian Black," Lincoln claimed. Ronnie saw the sporty Loud fight alongside him against the elite textoth, and most likely multiple times against Xeran Elites on the news where they were in their guardian modes.

"No, not that… Well kind of…" The black haired girl threw her coffee cup aside. He finished redressing, and then checked the pockets of his jeans. Thankfully his red curve tipped star and cellphone were still in them. Lori thought ahead for him and had put them in the pockets to help him out, just like she always did.

"Well, what then?" The young boy turned to her, waiting for her to get to the point. He had a Xeran Elite to hunt after all.

"…I want us to get back together."

"What?" Lincoln stared at her in minor surprise, "Ronnie Anne, you're not serious? I thought you hated how protective I was?"

"I like to handle problems on my own… You trying to handle anything for me when you're nothing but a spineless coward was really annoying… but after the way you stood up and shouted in my face the other day about how stupid I was being, I finally saw what you had changed into," Ronnie Anne explained. Her ex had grown up and changed drastically in these last few months. Though surprised, Lincoln understood what she meant. He would hate it too if someone who hated fighting and was generally weak was trying to fight his battles for him.

"…I appreciate it, but… I've already got another girlfriend now… and no, it isn't Christina," Lincoln declared. He knew Christina hated him now after an accident in chemistry class half a year ago where he basically had made bubblegum that ended up stuck in her hair, Christina wound up having to get nearly all of it cut off. Any comradery the two had was gone after that incident.

"I know Lame-o. You're dating Lynn. I heard her confession and everything in the gym… but we both know you won't get far in that relationship," the Santiago girl did not hesitate on confessing to eavesdropping on him while commenting that the relationship was doomed to failure.

"What do you mean? I love Lynn like… well, whatever corny romantic metaphor I can put. At first, I really didn't think it would be much more than some fake puppy love, but I've really fallen in love with her… Guess that makes me a monster for even getting my own feelings to begin with," Lincoln sighed, rubbing his head, not caring about the allegorical mess that it was. He knew it was wrong, but he had already gotten over this internal battle weeks ago.

"The monsters are the ones that hate feelings… That's what all that essence stuff is right? Emotions?" Ronnie Anne replied. Lincoln nodded, glad that she at least had learned a lot about the Xeran from what little experience she had about them.

"Yep… When too much essence gets taken that your body can't replace it, your heart just gives up… the Xeran take it all… The will to live, love, hate, fear, and have many other emotions comes from essence. The Xeran want it for some sick reason, and because of that, and me taking the night off yesterday, over one-hundred people are dead," Lincoln mused. He hated to even mention this dreadful news, but he wished to take any route he could to get away from the conversation of Ronnie Anne wanting to get back together with him. The minor lesson in essence was of no help detouring her, sadly.

"Look, I just want another chance with you, Lincoln… Maybe I could become a guardian and help you out, too? You need people who can actually fight," Ronnie Anne extended an offer to help against this alternate dimensional threat.

"I'd actually be happy with you being a guardian. We'll need all the help we can get… but there's a problem. I doubt we have enough material to make another suit. Lori is going to become the third Guardian. But look, if we somehow… no, WHEN we get Gruynithil, you definitely will be the one we go to. Me, Lynn and Lori are the only ones in our family who can really fight, and I know you have just as much muscle in you," Lincoln reassured. He was never going to say if, but when. He knew three guardians were not going to be enough to beat the Xeran. Lincoln then calmly put his response to the first half of her request simple for her, and he could tell she was irritated instantly.

"…but no, we're not getting back together."

"What?! Why not?" Ronnie Anne demanded, "And don't give me that 'because I don't want to leave you heartbroken if I die one day' crap, either."

"How stupid do I look to you, Ronnie Anne? You got rid of me because I tried to help protect you when you were being ganged up on. You didn't care about how I felt. You just walked away without so much as a care, even though I was beaten and bruised. I had to get three of my teeth replaced after that, you know," Lincoln reminded his ex-girlfriend all too well of that day that she broke up with him. All that pain and suffering he endured only to be punished for it, punished for doing what he had been raised to believe which was protect those he cared for. He was amazed that Clyde was somehow still asleep while he ranted.

"And now that I'm a hero and with Lynn and happier than I ever was with you, you suddenly want me back? Sheesh, Ronnie Anne, how jealous and selfish can you be?"

"You can't date your sister, Lincoln! It's wrong and you know it. Your family'll never approve. What if I went and told them, or anyone in school what you and Lynn were doing?" Ronnie Anne replied. She hit a deep nerve by accident. It just slipped out in the heat of the moment, she was not intentionally making any threats.

"Some of my sisters already know, and they approve. But go ahead and tell my parents, and the whole school that I love Lynn… and while you're at it, tell them I love Luna, Luan, Lily, Lisa, Lori, Leni, and everybody else in my family, because they're my world," Lincoln retorted. He hated to say what he was about to say, but with his ex-girlfriend trying to bully him into reforming their relationship, he was not holding back. "Unless you already know this, I'm stronger than you now, Ronnie Anne. If you try to do anything to Lynn, I'll come after you like you were one of the Xeran. I'm not going to let one jealous idiot put the world in danger, just because you can't get over yourself!"

"I thought you were out to protect everybody, like a real hero," Ronnie Anne glared hard. She tried to call it as a bluff, but was trying to hide how intimidated she was, that look in his eyes was one of anger with blazing rage behind it.

"I am…!" Lincoln retorted, but paused for a moment to gather himself before he continued to vent, "I mean, I try to, but every day, I have to wake up and realize that they're people dead because of me, that I'm a failure to a lot. I have to figure out how I'm gonna live with myself after this all is done. But the thousands I save in trade and seeing my family safe and happy are what keep me happy. I'm going to try my hardest every day, and I know Lynn Lori and Lisa will do the same. We're all being pushed to our limits, but we have to keep going… I'll save you if you're in danger, Ronnie Anne, but I won't hesitate to put you in danger if you try to hurt someone trying to save the world. Do you think it's easy killing the Xeran either? No, it isn't! The textoth are easy to handle, but the essence they use to make those monsters were people! I'm killing people's emotions when I fight those things, and I have to take their hearts for our own benefit, like some sick freak! Do you think I enjoy that?"

"Lincoln, you're just over thinking things! You have to calm down," Ronnie Anne tried to calm him down. She did not want to have to go get a nurse because of him having a stroke again.

"It's just hard to think any other way, when you have to remind yourself you have to exterminate an entire race of creatures just for the sake of our home planet, or dimension..." Lincoln felt sick again, but he sucked it up. Once he had his shoes tied, he began to leave the room. He looked to his ex with a smile, looking a lot better now that he had gotten a lot off of his chest. "Welcome to the friend zone, Ronnie Anne. Thanks for listening to me rant. It made me feel better. Tell Clyde to call me later."

Lincoln left his stunned ex-girlfriend there. Ronnie Anne had no way to stop him to try and make him get more rest. He was stronger than her, and even if she did stop him, he would do something crazy to escape the hospital to avenge the hundred people killed last night.

"So this is the friend zone, huh? …Clyde, how long have you been awake?" Ronnie Anne called out, Clyde opening one eye to look to her before he sat up, having been pretending to be asleep for a while now.

"I woke up around the part where you two were talking about Lincoln and Lynn being together. Please don't drag me into this, just seeing Lincoln like that alone was terrifying," Clyde requested. The Santiago girl held her head in annoyance. Her former boyfriend was gone once and for all from her romantic life, she was very surprised at how lonely the friend zone felt.

"You've changed a lot Lincoln...Do you really hate me that much now?"


	47. Patrol

"You know… I never wanted to use a sword, but it feels too natural for me. Now that Teronzata made me practice so much, I feel weird without it," Lori conversed. She and Lynn were in a southern part of Royal Woods about five miles away from where the apartment complex incident occurred. The blonde haired girl had her sword repaired and upgraded thanks to Lisa, now it was stronger than ever and it was attached to her side in a compact hidden fashion. Lynn solemnly adjusted her guardian vest and gloves.

"I guess we make do with what we're given. I still can't believe Lincoln had a stroke," Lynn rubbed her head. The two had been investigating around since this morning. Lori did not have her guardian suit yet, but Lisa promised it would be ready by tomorrow, or at least the earliest prototype that could be put to use. The loud house was very quiet last night without Lincoln.

"Don't think too hard on it, Lynn… It was just stress. We have nothing to worry about other than making him relax more when he isn't being a hero," Lori reassured. Neither believed the doctors suggesting suicide, but the fear of it was still there. They never knew stress could cause a stroke. Lynn was able to be relieved from knowing that Lincoln was not suffering from any form of disease nor self harm.

"I love Lincoln a lot, but… what if the Guardian Project is too much for him to handle? We never seem to have anything on our side beyond the element of surprise, the constant struggle, the pressure… He's been able to get through it all, but what if now he's out of steam?" Lynn sadly explained, imagining Lincoln being mentally unstable or unhealthy to the point that he could never hope to handle the stress of being a guardian anymore was very depressing.

"Lincoln won't back down, Lynn… Whether he likes it or not, he fell into the role of leader of the Guardian Project. Lisa told us that this morning," Lori replied while they were passing by another apartment building where several families, who had lost their home, but not their lives, were moving in, all fortunate enough to be at work during the incident. The Loud girls were on patrol, trying to find any clues they could discover or signs of Xeran activity.

"How do you know he won't quit, Lori? No one knows Lincoln. He's just… Lincoln Loud, really…" The sporty Loud asked her oldest sister. Lori smiled while looking down to her younger sister.

"Lynn, that's exactly why he won't back out. He's Lincoln! He survives every day with the ten of us and he's always making a plan while juggling school, yet somehow that little bro is able to love and help every last one of us, and barely expects anything in return," Lori explained. She knew Lincoln was just amazing like that, and her being possessed into being mean to him made her feel horrible. Until now, she had never really cared to show her emotions much at all to anyone beyond Bobby.

"Are you saying that our family is as crazy as the Xeran?" Lynn quirked.

"Well… I didn't want it to sound bad, but yeah… Our home's a mess, but a good mess. We'll find a way to help Lincoln relax between guardian duties," Lori replied. Any normal person would look at the Loud family and wonder how they survived daily with each other when they had so many different personalities clashing, but anyone who knew the Louds saw them as the imperfectly perfect family.

"At least that sounds easy… I just wish we hadn't become the talk of the town because of this Xeran elite," Lynn commented, aware of the news that caused her brotherly boyfriend's stress. Both she and Lori then saw a lot of cars coming through the area for lunchtime, which was just another normal day in this part of Royal Woods. It was a lot more business oriented, so traffic always was a nightmare.

"Oh gosh, the radio this morning almost made me go crazy in the car," Lori lightly laughed. Because of last night's incident, the guardians were now being seen as one of two things, normal; people trying their best to save everybody. Those were how regular people saw the heroic group, while the more radical uncomfortable group saw them as nothing but terrorists, perhaps cooperating with the Xeran race. The guardians knew it was a matter of time before that calmed down, but found it funny nonetheless.

"Lynn, I'm still not comfortable with the thought of you two dating… Knowing that you both like to sleep together at night hasn't helped, but can I just ask how much do you love Lincoln?" Lori was trying to lighten up the mood, thinking talking about love would help matters. Her sister took a moment to think on an answer while they waited for the crosswalk light to change colors.

"We're not doing anything, for the fifteenth time Lori!…I guess I love him as much as you love Bobby, and more than any sport I play combined," Lynn put it simply, aware that Bobby almost smothered Lori upon her return.

"Wow… that is a lot," Lori smirked while they continued walking. It was a thankfully bright and sunny Sunday, Lori and Lynn were getting along a lot better than ever before. It was a surprise to their family at how much things were changing, but the Louds knew that everybody grew up, so they assumed the siblings had gotten over their differences. In actuality, Lynn and Lori's combined world saving goal had forced their bond together, and was thrice as strong, it had made them really forget the more pitiful small stuff. The sounds of screaming hit their ears before they knew it.

"What in the blue Earth?" Lori responded as the two immediately ran down the street and made a turn for where it came from. Here they saw an elite textoth in the middle of traffic, having damaged the road and some cars.

"Whoa! That thing's buffer than my coaches!" Lynn commented. This elite textoth had a unique body. Like the other one with its tall and lanky body, this elite textoth had a large, thick, muscular and slightly more obese body.

"I didn't think it was possible to let yourself go as a skeleton, but here we are," Lori held her head in amazement at how much the elite textoth must be bursting with essence. Judging by its size, it might pop like a balloon upon being defeated.

"Help me!" A woman screamed as her car was being picked up by the elite textoth with ease. No one was helping the poor woman. Anyone in their car around her were either getting away immediately, driving off or running for their lives, gladly letting her be the distraction to save themselves.

"Quit screaming! It's giving me a headache!" The elite textoth groggily replied. It was just out doing its usual job and gathering essence, but it appeared to have been very easily distracted and failing to be subtle.

"Let them go!" The elite textoth heard before suddenly getting jump kicked in the face and feeling a sharp slash on its hands. The muscular monster let go of the vehicle when it was knocked away, the car landing back onto the road as the elite textoth crashed onto the asphalt pavement with a cry of pain ringing out.

"Oh, thank you!" The woman said to Lynn and Lori who stood there. Lori had her sword drawn while her younger sister had gotten her rough-tipped black star out. The woman looked nervous getting out of her now ruined vehicle. She would have driven off in terror if the buff skeleton monster had not destroyed her vehicle's tires.

"No problem. You might want to run though," Lori suggested that, just like most of the people around she flee. She listened to that suggestion and fled away instantly.

"Urrrggh… who are you two?!" The elite textoth stood up, stomping the ground in anger.

"We're the guardians!" Lynn got out her black rough-tipped star. Lori had no means to transform yet, but the skills Teronzata had forced upon her were just enough to keep her fighting. Lynn put the star into her vest opening, which closed after it.

"Are you ready?" Lori asked as Lynn made her guardian knuckles and boots appear, doubting she needed to morph for a textoth. Whether it was elite or not, big or small, the skeleton was still a skeleton.

"I should be asking you that," Guardian Black chuckled, pointing a fist at the monster as her older sister pointed her sword at it, both ready to go. The elite textoth slammed the ground and charged for them, letting out a battle cry. Every time its feet came in contact with the ground, the earth beneath them shook.

"Grah!" the elite textoth felt its stomach get hit hard by the guardian knuckle's punch, forcing the muscular skeleton to stumble back. Lori lunged at it with her sword overhead, slashing the skeleton monster across its shoulder, causing an eruption of sparks and smoke across its entire body.

"Whoa… Lori's scary," Lynn watched as Lori hit the monster several times while dodging its attacks with her own blade. The skills Teronzata had taught her were still there. The damaged and sparking elite textoth punched Lori in the chest, knocking her onto the windshield of one of the cars, cracking it on contact. The oldest Loud groaned, keeping a tight grip on her sword before giving a toothy grin to the monster.

"Is that the best you got? My baby sister hits harder than you," Lori mocked. The elite textoth was kicked in the back by Lynn, and then again in the back of its legs, knocking it onto its knees. Lynn jumped up, punching it in the back of the head and knocking the monster down onto its stomach. The impact of her guardian knuckles and boots felt like a horse kick and shotgun impact altogether at once, on the skeletal warriors bones.

"Alright time to get rid of yo-guh!" Lynn was grabbed by the throat. The elite textoth had been surprisingly fast. The sporty girl was being crushed in its hands, the scary, idle mask of the elite textoth staring her down. Lori glared at what she saw as she got up on her feet.

"Scatter!" Lori slashed the air vertically, sending out a wave of sharp blue energy off her sword that hit the muscular textoth in the back, electrical smoke exploding off its back as it let go of Lynn while hollering in pain.

"You…!" The elite textoth turned around just in time to see Lori begin slashing the air rapidly, sending out dozens of waves of the sharp blue energy flying at the monster. Lynn stayed down on the ground as the elite textoth was hit by each one, it felt like a razor sharp gust of the wind cutting through it. All of the combined assault made it fall over onto its side and begin to slowly turn into dust.

"Whew…" Lynn panted, making her guardian knuckles and boots disappear before she removed her black star and put it away, her throat aching from the strangling.

"Are you okay, Lynn?" Lori came over, going onto to one knee and helping her up. The elite textoth was taking a while to turn to dust completely, as if it wanted its disintegration to be scary to the eyes of humans.

"Yeah, I'm fine… thanks, Lori. I can't believe you can still do that scatter thing! I thought you couldn't anymore after you were free from the Xeran," Lynn exclaimed in amazement. Guardian Black never anticipated seeing her oldest sister perform that move again. It was odd to see her fighting with swordplay, but using Xeran techniques was another story, the fact Lori was able to put her own spin on the technique was astonishing.

"I only learnt that one move, Lynn. It's all that Teronzata guy taught me beyond how to swing a sword right… I hate that I can do it so good too," Lori looked depressed. She felt not much different, almost like now she was just possessing her body and the voice in her head wanted her old self back, even though there was no old self anymore. If the future wanted to exist, the current heroes had to use everything in their power to save the day. Even if it meant dragging parts of the miserable past along for the ride.

"Sorry, Lori… If it makes you feel better, cutting that living weed into a salad might be a great goal to set for yourself," Lynn joked as she watched Lori retract the blade into its compact, white, smooth cornered and rectangular form before she returned it to her side.

"I think that'd make me feel a lot better," Lori nodded, smiling.

"Great…! Huh?" Lynn heard a ringtone sounded afterwards. She recognized that triumphant specific ringtone she had set, and she eagerly answered. She remembered their oldest sibling leaving his phone and red star with him in case he needed them.

"Lincoln? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Sorry for worrying you…" Lincoln replied happily, "I'm out of the hospital. Think we can meet up to do some hunting?"

Lori held her head, annoyed, as she heard the loving couple discuss the fact he had forcibly left the hospital, obviously against doctors orders. "You should've stayed and gotten more rest, Linc…"

"Lincoln… I'd love to right now," Lynn agreed. She could hear him laughing joyfully. She wondered if he was okay. After a minor bit of talking about where to meet up. They agreed they should all gather to continue their search from the Oak Leaf Mall, a popular shopping center especially on weekends. If the Xeran were to attack anywhere again today, it would possibly be there. Even if they were not planning any attacks on the location, it was best to be safe and make sure.

"Great!" Lincoln said, "I'll see you two there. Bye, I love you."

"Bye. I love you too," Lynn hung up, and then saw Lori smirking, "What's so funny?"

"It's just cute seeing you two like this… Even if I'm still not used to it," Lori teased. Lynn blushed and embarrassingly glared to her, trying to get her older sister to stop poking fun of their relationship every five seconds. The two continued on since the elite textoth was dead, and they could go meet up with their little brother and make sure he was alright, and did not forcibly leave the hospital against doctor's orders. Though they could assume that much from him.

"I hope he doesn't have more pent up anger...He sounded a lot better."


	48. Report

Lincoln sat on a bench outside of the mall, where he had agreed to meet his fellow guardian sisters. He looked down at his red curve-tipped star, smiling. He hated to have to go about things the way they were right now, but he could not let his personal guilt murder him internally. He just had to find a way to move on from each incident and not dwell in the past. He would move on from this large tragedy as well after he got revenge for the deceased.

"Nobody is going to be happy to hear that I left against doctor's advice," Lincoln chuckled. He expected most of his family to give him a harsh scolding later for leaving instead of getting help. He would probably wind up forced back into the hospital for a checkup afterwards. It was just a matter of time before the Loud family did learn of his actions, his phone would be flooded with calls when that happened.

"Huh?" The teenage boy heard his cellphone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket, recognizing the ringtone. He hit answer and put it to his ear.

"Hey, Lisa. Everything okay?" Lincoln answered, happy to hear from his second youngest sister.

"Lincoln! You don't know how alleviating it is to hear your voice…" Lisa responded. He really wished she would do the layman's terms of speech more often. Then again the child prodigy had been acting different toward him lately as well. Lincoln presumed it was because of their role as the world's main line of defense against the Xeran, that she was being stressed. But there was just something different about how she was treating him, he could not put his finger on why.

"Thanks Lisa. It's good to hear you're fine, too," Lincoln replied, "Did anything happen while I was out?"

"I repaired Lori's sword, but her guardian suit will be usable tomorrow… at the earliest in prototype terms… Otherwise, I believe I've made a breakthrough with the hollow essence sphere," Lisa explained. That sounded like music to the red guardian's ears. Soon there would be a third Guardian. However he wondered what the breakthrough was.

"Really?! Lisa, what did you find out? Please tell me we have some sort of Xeran radar now. I'd really like that a lot, way more than just relying on illegally spying on 911 calls and searching through hundreds of internet messages," Lincoln asked, hoping that this essence sphere was now a compass that could point them in the direction of the Xeran, if they were to ever appear. He hated breaking the law this much. Vigilante justice was one thing, but eavesdropping on personal calls meant to be kept between operator and emergency caller was a big offense.

"No, unfortunately I'm still working on developing that… The hollow essence sphere, as I was able to determine, is unable to hold any essence in it, but it can transfer essence between two entities. I developed a system to allow you to regenerate essence moderately faster with the help of Lynn and Lori. If you're low on your specific type of essence, one of you can donate some of your own to the other," Lisa elaborated on what she had discovered and worked hard to create. Lincoln loved the sound of not having to worry about being burnt out from morphing and using his finisher too often.

"That's awesome, Lisa! You're the best scientist in the world! That means me and Lynn can use dragon mode as much as we want! Is that right?" Lincoln asked. It would be great to be able to rampage freely without having to worry about drying themselves of their internal strength and anger that the dragon mode form siphoned off of.

"I'm sorry, but you can't… I'm afraid I discovered a problem with using dragon mode too often," the child prodigy apologized aware that it would have been a grand advantage to have, but it would leave one guardian defenseless. It was risky in some situations and only to be used as needed.

"A problem? Please tell me it's one you can fix," Lincoln begged. His super genius sister could handle nearly anything nowadays, being one of the smartest people alive as of the Guardian Project's creation.

"Unfortunately, I can't repair it without crippling the suit's power. As stated prior, I never implemented a combination system into the guardian suits. This is purely a glitch, one that was not detectable by any means until it was accidentally triggered by Lynn inserting both stars into her morphing device. After running computer simulations, I believe if you combine two stars three times in a row, it will result in a massive explosion," Lisa explained the issue behind the glitch. If overused in such short time, there would be nothing but horrible outcomes and consequences.

"Well that's good to know… I don't think we'll be in any situations where we'll need more than one combination morph…" Lincoln suddenly jolted up with a thought, "Hey, when Lori's guardian suit is done, maybe we can combine all three stars and…"

"No! If you even try to do anything that risky, I will take away control of the locking mechanisms from you all!" Lisa shouted, "Two stars already trigger the surge protector twice! Three would no doubt break the suits and gravely injure you!"

"Al-alright, Lisa, I'm sorry… sheesh, what's the matter? You're a lot more emotional today," Lincoln knew that if she was that upset about matters, then it was really dangerous. The child prodigy normally kept a straight face and a monotone attitude, but at the moment it was a lot different.

"I… I missed you Lincoln…" Lisa confessed, "I was terrified to face the world without you in our lives. I can't sleep at night when I worry that you might cease to be…"

"Don't worry, Lisa. Remember what I told you last night? You're all my world, remember?" Lincoln reassured her. He soon saw Lori and Lynn approaching, having finally reached him after the long walk to the mall.

"I'm glad you're my brother Lincoln…" Lisa smiled, "Apologies if I never have shown that gratitude much."

"Don't worry about it, Lis-ack!" Lincoln was given a tight hug by both Lori and Lynn.

"Thank goodness, Lincoln! You had us terrified last night…" Lori expressed her glee to see him standing before them perfectly fine.

"I didn't believe those doctors for one second when they said you might have tried to commit suicide," Lynn claimed. Lincoln had no trouble believing them, though he had no plans on telling his girlfriend about the rough fight that he had with his ex-girlfriend.

"I don't blame you for decking that doctor," Lincoln smiled, happy to be reunited with them, complimenting whichever one of the two hit the doctor, though Ronnie Anne had told him it may have been Lori. However, their reunion was interrupted by Lisa chiming up.

"Guys! We have a Xeran related crisis going on!" Lisa shouted loud enough for them to hear, glad that to be in a very loud home at times like this, it made her not have to worry about how loud she sometimes needed to talk to be heard on the phone.

"Oh… uh, sorry, Lisa… What's going on?" Lincoln put the phone on speaker mode, wondering what the Xeran elite made to murder so many last night was doing now. They were informed that it was a train based monster, and that it seemed a lot tougher than the other Xeran elites they had fought before.

"There have been several reports that a small group of factory plants in the north-western part of Royal Woods have been attacked by monsters. Judging by the descriptions, it's Zeggfor and the elite," Lisa explained what she had gathered from the 911 reports. This locomotive monster could be mistaken for one of the majesty's generals, though the guardians had never seen the generals' full power. To their knowledge, the majesty's generals had been holding back due to underestimating the guardians.

"Zeggfor, huh? I haven't met this general before," Lynn commented. She had not yet met the general of offense or the general of emotions, whilst Lori had the unfortunate luck to meet all of the generals. The only one she liked was BelGaner, because he seemed to have a grasp on his sanity.

"I did. He's the first general I met, and he really doesn't like me," Lincoln claimed, before they focused their attention back on the 911 reports, "Is anybody hurt, Lisa?"

"Fortunately not. The factories are having immense rat epidemics, so they were closed until the situation is dealt with. The 911 calls came from several passersby's who supposedly saw the monsters roaming around like they were hunting for something," Lisa answered. It sounded worse that the Xeran were not doing anything at all. Whatever they were looking for, it was either important to them or it was someone specific. The guardians had no clue.

"We'll get on it. Thanks, Lisa," Lori thanked their little sister. It was going to take some time to get to the factorial area, a half hour to forty minutes at most.

"Good luck to you three," Lisa ended the phone call there. Guardian Red pocketed his phone.

"We better get going. Lori, you should stay back since you don't have your guardian mode suit yet," Lincoln said, but his oldest sister shook her head.

"I've got a sword and I know how to swing it right. I'm coming with you," Lori ended it there. Lincoln looked to his sisterly girlfriend for advice.

"She was able to fight off an elite textoth that came from nowhere for no reason. She'll be fine," Lynn reassured that Lori could hold her own in a fight. The lone Loud boy internally shrugged, just glad to have help.

"Alright you two, let's go show those Xeran they shouldn't have raised a single hand toward anybody!" Lincoln agreed to bring their oldest sister. He still found it weird that she was good with a sword. It would take a lot more time to get used to. Lynn was just amazed that Lori still had the weird scatter ability Teronzata had taught her.

"Saving the world is going to become common in my life now, isn't it?" Lincoln asked himself as the trio readied themselves, Lori and Lynn nodding in acceptance at this fact.

"Boy… Bobby won't believe a word of this if I tell him."


	49. Divided

**Authors Note: I wanted to thank you all, for what is going to be as of tomorrow, this fic hitting 300 reviews and the 50 chapter milestone. I'm glad so many enjoy my story, I'm trying to work on one shots to the side to help break off from repetitiveness. I hope I do well, but either way I hope you take care and enjoy!**

"Where did that elite textoth go?! He was supposed to aid us in our next rampage!" Zeggfor impatiently waited on one of the shutdown assembly lines, looking around the closed factory. Xerain was sitting nearby, looking very bored. The locomotive monster just wanted to run as fast as he could, uncaring if it was into people, vehicles, through buildings or around the world. Anything was better than sitting around bored waiting for a missing elite textoth.

"He did seem a little hardheaded for an elite textoth. Perhaps it is another disobedient one turning against the Xeran Empire?" Xerain suggested, but his creator brushed that aside fast, hopping off the assembly line where tons of rats scurried everywhere around.

"The odds of another traitor textoth are a trillion to one… They would have to have nothing BUT the essence of one whole person, and from no other people… when all that essence is gathered and has a new body, its memories comes flooding back, resulting in an idiotic deserter that we have to waste time hunting… Thankfully, it's only happened three times thus far," Zeggfor elaborated. Traitorous textoth were not really textoth if they became traitors. It tended to mean they were people's emotions reborn into their new body. Anybody would be desperate to avoid death a second time, obviously.

"Should we send out a squad of disguised textoth to search for him, master? Every second wasted is another dozen essence we could have gathered gone," Xerain said. The general of offense was more than aware of the majesty's anger toward failure, but as long as they had gained a lot of essence, then it was a success and a means of survival.

"We've already gathered more than enough essence and already turned it over to the core. The majesty was impressed with you," Zeggfor said. For the first improved Xeran Elite, Xerain had done more than the last Xeran Elites combined together, most likely because of their power differences and use of tactics. It was hard to compete or even compare against what was essentially a tank on legs.

"I'm glad to be of a service to the Xeran race," Xerain laughed, looking down at the many rats running around before reaching down and picking one up. The vermin were not really scared of the monsters.

"This dimension's creatures are so similar to others. Yet, it's just the little differences that are the strangest," Xerain commented, not gaining anymore response from his master. Zeggfor was too focused on the whereabouts of their missing elite textoth to continue minor conversations about rats.

"Zeggfor!" A familiar voice caught their attention. They saw Lincoln Lynn and Lori standing on the upper platform there, having arrived minutes ago and making their dramatic entrance. The general of offense was immensely pleased.

"Guardian Red! I've waited so long for a chance at redemption against you," Zeggfor grinned. They watched as the general of offense detached one of the horns from his head and blew into it like a trumpet, a portal opening up as a ton of textoth immediately came out. Xerain stepped up as well to enter the upcoming battle.

"I lost count again," Lincoln groaned. Trying to keep track of textoth's numbers was difficult now that the Xeran were no longer hesitant on carelessly sending out a trove of them.

"I think it was like… fifty," Lori shrugged with her best estimated guess. The two guardians got their stars out.

"We're not going to let you get away with what you did last night," Lynn declared. Xerain laughed, just letting out a puff of smoke from the stack on his head.

"I'm the first of many improved Xeran Elites… There are many more Xeran warriors soon to come! Let's see if you guardians can put the brakes on this train!" Xerain readied as the textoth were drawing their bone weaponry, the jagged scimitars being accompanied by new bone daggers and razor-jagged short axes, pulled from all parts of their body.

"Let's settle this once and for all!" Zeggfor fired a large bolt of thunder from his hand at the upper railing, forcing the three to jump off to avoid the attack as the railing exploded.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln and Lynn morphed as Lori stomped on top of two textoth upon landing to break her fall, slashing away a few around immediately with her drawn sword. The two guardians landed nearby as they knocked several of the skeletal monsters away themselves.

"Lock in!" They grabbed the fronts and backs of their helmets before hearing them clunk securely into place. They tapped the sides of their helmets, making their visors close. The teenage couple hoped that Lori, the one who insisted on coming, would be alright.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln called out, ducking under an axe swung at his head, and grabbing the textoth and headbutting it to crack its skull, before slashing it away with his clawed gauntlet.

"Guardian Black! Guardian of the essence that gives strength to all life!" Lynn announced while blocking several swords with her guardian knuckles, knocking them back before giving one strong wide punch from her guardian knuckle to send the small band of attacking textoth flying across the room.

"Don't lay a hand on him! He's mine!" Zeggfor shoved a few textoth aside. Lincoln was grabbed and tossed aside, landing onto the assembly line. He was not that surprised that the general of offense wanted to duel him in a one on one battle, considering their last engagement got interrupted by the majesty.

"Hang on, Lincoln! I'm coming!" Lynn called out to her brotherly boyfriend, before hearing the sound of a train whistle ring out.

"You're mine, little guardian!" Xerain let out a burst of steam from his wheels and smoke from the stack on his head as he charged in a slow pace, but quickly went fast. Lynn put up her guard with her guardian knuckles before digging her Guardian boots into the ground, the locomotive monster colliding with her at full force.

"Wow… someone that survived a train collision head on! You guardians really are super humans!" Xerain shoved Lynn along the ground. Despite how hard she had dug herself in, she had wound up being pushed along, her feet leaving a long trail on the ground before breaking through the wall and flying outside with a cry of pain.

"It appears their plan is to divide and conquer," Lisa chimed in over the communicators, having taken a moment to get the notification of the guardian suits being activated, mainly because the child prodigy had been caught up in making Lori's guardian suit.

"Yeah, I gathered that!" Lincoln replied while Zeggfor jumped at him with both fists raised. Guardian Red pushed himself off the assembly line, watching it get broken in half by the strong attack. The general of offense was very unhappy with their last encounter, and was desperate to do things right this time.

"Dual mode! Engage!" Lincoln made the smaller second claw appear on his other wrist from his clawed gauntlet. He got up, lunging forward and stabbing. His attack was blocked as Zeggfor grabbed his arms and spun him around, before the monster's arm began sparking violently with electricity.

"Voltage Punch!" Zeggfor hit Lincoln in the chest a small explosion of thunder, sparks and smoke blasting off his suit's front as he got knocked back.

"It may be best if you retreat. You all threw the element of surprise away, clearly." Lisa recommended fleeing, now that her siblings had gotten rid of what they were very bad with.

"We can't run! They'll go on another rampage!" Lynn replied as she ducked under Xerain's punch. She hit the train monster in the face, hearing a loud clang as her guardian knuckle hit the grill on his face. In reply, the Xeran Elite blew a very hot burst of steam in her face that steamed up her visor so she could not see.

"Darn it, that's dirty fighting!" Lynn exclaimed, before she got punched into a few leftover boxes, breaking them into splinters.

"Don't cry over spilt blood! You're fighting a train! I'm about as fair as fair gets," Xerain laughed and charged for her again. Lynn jumped out of the way, watching him crash into the side of another factory building.

"We'll be fine! We do what we always do! Kill the textoth, kill the elite, and then make the general run!" Lincoln declared. As Zeggfor punched him in the face, he had the opportunity to stab one of his claws into the general of offense's arm, watching smoke blow of it before he pinned his arm to the ground.

"You filthy scum!" Zeggfor growled, his arm trapped. Lincoln let go of his second set of claws before beginning to hack and slash away at the general of offense, sending electrical smoke all around them.

"So this is what I'll have to put up with daily? Nothing different than when I was training under Teronzata," Lori thought. All the textoth had come after her since Zeggfor wanted to fight Guardian Red alone, and Xerain had taken Guardian Black away from sight. The blonde girl kept a very tight grip on her sword.

"At least we know what they were doing here now," Lori said. They had overheard the two Xeran talking about the elite textoth that had gotten sidetracked a while ago and defeated by her and Lynn. She blocked a set of daggers that had tried to get her from behind. "And I'm going to enjoy this lot."

Lori kicked the dagger wielding textoth back before spinning around and slashing its head, hearing its cries of pain as its mask exploded with smoke and sparks. The oldest loud had an idea. She may know only one of the Xeran's moves, but she could use it in a lot of conceivable ways.

"Scatter!" Lori twirled her sword, slashing in a full circle. A bright blue trail was created in her blade's wake. Any textoth that did not get back were cut in half and turned to dust. Lori jumped forward, stabbing a dual axe wielding textoth, piercing its skeletal head, and then taking the blade back out to block another textoth's blade.

"Will you get out of my way?! I have to go help my brother and sister!" Lori slid her sword along the jagged scimitar and ducked under the skeletal monster's swing before she slashed its side, watching the smoke and sparks explode from them.

"Ack!" Lori felt a sharp pain in her leg, where one of the swords hit her there. Another two textoth jumped at her, one digging a dagger into her side. The blonde girl blocked the other one swinging an axe at her. The three were in a bad situation here, each one separated when they were strongest together thus far.

"I don't have much choice but to kill them all," Lori realized while kicking the first textoth with its knives in her side. She ripped the bone daggers out, and stabbed the textoth that first slashed her shoulder. She would live with the blood loss.

"Scatter!" Lori spun and sent out a wave of sharp blue energy that cut half of the group of textoth down. A cloud of electrical smoke rose to the sky as the textoth fell over, beginning to turn into a giant pile of dust.

"Just hang on, Lincoln and Lynn…" She panted.

"I'm going to show you how useful I can be! I'm going to pay you back for saving me!"


	50. Redemption

**Authors Note: Cheers to fifty chapters all! And once again, this fic is not near done yet, and thank you all again for the support. I apologize for any shortcomings on my part. Please enjoy!**

The three guardians had fought for barely an hour. Lynn was tired, having had to spend most of her energy guarding to make sure she would not get run over when Xerain charged for her. Lori was dealing with an endless army of textoth. Meanwhile, Zeggfor and Lincoln fought alone, exchanging blows constantly.

"Where do they keep coming from?!" Lori's body was in pain from the multiple blows from sharp weapons. There was so much dust from the prior fallen textoth in the room that it almost blinded her, it was as if they were growing at more and more of a disadvantage each passing second. The vast number of textoth would not just end.

"Ah!" Lori got her arm cut by one of the jagged scimitars, which knocked her sword out of her hand, making it land nearby. Another textoth jumped onto her back, thrusting its dagger downward trying to impale her chest. The short blonde haired girl grabbed its arm to stop it, panting.

"…wait… that's it!" Lori realized upon being forced to look at the ceiling when trying to stop her heart from being stabbed. The oldest Loud forced herself backwards off her feet, pinning the textoth flat onto its back, and then stomping its skull head.

"At least I won't need any more anger management classes," Lori thought. This was really relieving her anger, the only louds taking those classes were her and Lola anyhow. She was ready to put the plan into action. She grabbed the next textoth that tried to attack her and grabbed its arm, and she made it drop its weapon as she forced its arm behind its back when spinning it around.

"Hope you don't mind being a shield," Lori laughed lightly, the textoth making pleading noises of mercy. Lori charged ahead. Any textoth that tried to attack her would only then hit their bony teammate. Once she got out of the mobbing, Lori threw the disintegrating skeleton aside before grabbing her sword.

"Scatter!" She slashed the air several times, sending multiple sharp blue waves of energy toward the ceiling, each hit cracking it. The textoth were frozen, thinking she had directed her attack at them, and they were surprised when it missed.

"Your turn," Lori pointed her sword at them, as the ceiling began to collapse, suddenly falling in from the hard attacks destroying the supports. The textoth were unable to react, all crushed underneath, kicking up a lot of dust from their comrades' remains.

"Whew…" Lori went on one knee and panted. She needed to regain her breath. Normally she would be freaking out over the tons of rats running around the factory floors, a few crawling over her legs occasionally, but Lori would gladly take rats over living skeletons any day of the week now. Though it did not stop her initial desire to scream her heart out, she was just too tired to be doing that right now.

* * *

"Charge!" Xerain roared while charging down the enclosed space of the container-filled area outside of the back area of the factories. Lynn groaned, getting her guard up again, taking the direct slam from the locomotive Xeran Elite as it began to shove her back a good distance.

"Get off!" Lynn kicked Xerain off her, the Xeran Elite being sent off path with his full speed crashing into one of the large containers, denting it with an echoing clang. The metal monster groaned, rubbing his head.

"What is with you humans and fighting with noise? It's very, very annoying!" Xerain stomped as more steam burst out from the sides of his wheel joints, the Xeran elite letting more smoke from his top.

"I'm just burning energy… I need to try an actually do something…" Lynn muttered while watching Xerain prepare his next charge.

"Try using his momentum against him! Your guardian knuckles should be able to withstand a hard enough blow and protect your arms," Lisa advised. It was hard to monitor two fights at once, trying to give advice while looking thoroughly for any weakness the Xeran monsters had, but the child prodigy managed.

"Really? So you're telling me to just punch a train as hard as I can, and I'll come out the winner? Well you're three times smarter than me, so I'll listen," Lynn replied concernedly. Never in her life did she think she would be fighting a living train. She mentally wished Xerain was friendly, just for the sake of making little Lana, who loved trains, happy.

"I'm technically five times smarter, but still… here he comes!" Lisa alerted Guardian Black as Xerain charged at full speed, destroying the concrete beneath him. Lynn punched her guardian knuckles together sending a few sparks flying off, taking a few steps back and winding up her right arm.

"Next stop… death!" Xerain shouted. Lynn threw her strongest punch forward as hard as she could, and a loud, metallic punch rung out. Guardian Black's fist hit the train monsters face. Her feet were dug into the ground hard and her entire upper body ached in pain, but she did not back down.

"Graaaaah!" Lynn delivered a second punch from her other guardian knuckle to finally break the engagement. Xerain fell back a short distance away, as the metal grill covering his lower face fell off, clattering to the ground.

"Oww ow ow ow ow! My mouth! Weren't you taught to respect your elders?!" Xerain cried while getting up, his metallic face damaged from the hard punch. It had actually weakened his defense. The insides of the Xeran Elite were now exposed, which seemed to be mainly a large mess of gears and wires.

"I was also taught to put idiots in their place, last time I checked old people can be idiots too." Lynn retorted. Her shoulder twinged in pain, making her grit her teeth and halt temporarily by the surprise of it all.

"Oh dear… I was worried your muscles would be stressed, but I did not anticipate how much damage the momentum impact would cause to them," Lisa apologized. The math had been done in her head in less than two minutes to help her older sister. The plan worked, but she had been wrong in some regards.

"Lisa, you gave me a great advantage. Don't worry about it, I'll live… that's why I've got two arms and legs to fight with," Lynn grinned as Xerain started to get over his own pain. Guardian Black was ready to do the same thing once more, no matter how much her body protested.

"E-eh? Why won't my wheels turn?!" Xerain asked. His jointed wheels would release steam, but they refused to turn. Guardian Black was surprised to see iron rods jammed through the wheels, preventing them from turning at all, he could not reach for them to remove them either. Xerain screamed in pain as his back exploded with smoke and bursts of electricity.

"Sorry for being late," Lori stepped in between the Xeran Elite and her younger sister.

"Lori! Are you okay?!" Lynn worriedly asked, noticing the injuries on her.

"It appears she took away the monster's special ability, and you made the weakness. I heavily implore you to deal with this now so you can both go help Lincoln and get medical aid for Lori," Lisa insisted. Lynn understood the orders. She hoped her brotherly boyfriend was alright and able to hold out against Zeggfor.

"I'm the first of many improved Xeran Elite. I may die, but there's going to be far worse than me to come!" Xerain laughed. Lynn shook her head while getting her black rough edged star from the front of her suit, watching her black essence begin to pour into it from her arm, going all the way up to her star.

"Guardian finisher! Star Striker Engage!" Lynn threw the black star into the air, getting into her boxing stance as the star broke into four. She sent each part with a strong punch or kick, flying right for the locomotive monster.

"Scatter!" Lori decided to add onto it, slashing out a wave of sharp blue energy that engulfed the four star shards, each one piercing the Xeran Elite's opening in his metallic armor. As he began sparking and smoking violently, the two sisters stood, watching him fall to his knees.

"It… looks like I'm the big engine that couldn't..." Xerain fell face first and exploded into a cloud of black smoke and flames. Lynn morphed back to normal, she caught her black star as it flew back to her from the wreckage, and pocketed it. Lori had a bright smile. The Xeran Elite was dead, and their revenge was satisfied.

"Whew… That's him dealt with. Where's the army of textoth that was back there?" Lynn worriedly asked.

"I beat them all. But now, we need to go help Lincoln first," Lori insisted, aware that the sporty Loud wanted to get her medical treatment immediately, but the oldest Loud cared a lot more about their only brother.

"Alright, but you're letting me and him do the main part of the fighting… oh gosh," Lynn commented. She could not look at Lori without seeing all the blood on her shirt, pants and arm.

"Heh… you're not in any position to stop me from helping. I told you and Lincoln I'd make it up to you both," Lori retorted. Lynn was just in as bad a shape as her, just more internally than externally. Lynn did not have any response. The two had their breath back, so they went off to find Lincoln quickly. Behind them, though, they forgot to grab the essence sphere from Xerain's remains. The essence spheres insides spun with red essence, looking ready to explode with anger, like a small sun full of rage.

* * *

"Why don't you surrender your essence?! I'm far stronger than you!" Zeggfor demanded while holding Lincoln against a brick wall by his throat.

"You've asked me that so many times, it's getting old!" Lincoln kicked the grey horned monster in the stomach, making him let go. He slashed the Xeran generals face, causing an eruption of smoke and sparks. They both looked battle worn and drained.

"I believe he is suffering from some mental insanity… You both are out for revenge against each other, after all." Lisa pointed out. Both Lincoln and Zeggfor's thirst for vengeance was only one thing in common about them, they were both oblivious to the fact they shared another scary similarity. The desire to make the ones they 'worshiped' and were close to happy, in a sense they did have that with each other. Not that they could talk much right now, between the injuries and hard fighting.

"Thanks for that Lisa, but I don't think talking is worth much right now…" Lincoln panted. He had no hope of using his guardian finisher right now, he was far too tired to burn his essence into it. Revenge only gave anger so much to thrive from, and he certainly had burned it all away.

"I don't know why BelGaner toyed with you like he did, but I'm a much different type of wolf, who hates to toy with their prey," Zeggfor took both horns off his head and threw them at him, they both landed on both sides of Lincoln, and they both began sparking suddenly shocking him with a strong current of electricity.

Lincoln cried in pain as electrical smoke erupted from random parts of his guardian suit. He was trapped by the electrical horns. Zeggfor fired another bolt of lightning that hit the Loud boy in the face, blasting his helmet and visor apart, breaking it and exposing part of his face, the helmet pieces scattering all over the floor.

"I can't…bzzzt…Lincoln…bbzzz…your…sssszzz…system…zztttt…circuiting!" Lisa tried to say something, but the electricity that was damaging Lincoln's suit was making it so that she could no longer see through his perspective. His visor was destroyed and the communicator was being disrupted heavily.

"I want to see that look of hatred in your eye become one of terror… I want to see you rot," Zeggfor began to charge up his next attack. Lincoln didn't close his eyes or look away. He glared directly at the general of offense.

"Lay off him!"

The grey horned monster was drop kicked from behind and knocked into his own electrical trap, which in turn knocked Lincoln out of it. The teenage boy panted, relieved to be free, but his whole body was numb from the volts he had to absorb.

"Scatter!"

Zeggfor was hit by three blasts of the blue sharp waves. He began to burst violently with smoke and sparks.

"Lori! Lynn!" Lincoln saw Lynn and Lori in front of him, he went straight over to them, happily.

"Are you okay Lincoln?" Lynn asked, looking over his damaged guardian suit. It had been pushed far past its limits.

"Sorry for taking so long. We killed Xerain though," Lori announced, their little brother looked very happy at the news of that.

"Really?! That's great! Thanks for the save," Lincoln hugged them both. They all saw Zeggfor get out of his own trap, looking mortified at the news.

"Wh…what? He killed nearly hundreds! How could he die to just two weak females?!" The astonished general of offense put his horns back onto his head. He was more than able to recognize Lori, angered that she remained alive after their plans with her. It just made him regret not murdering her a while back, when she was under their control.

"We're the guardians," Lori replied, while wiping the side of her sword on her pant leg.

"The strongest warriors this dimension has to offer you!" Lynn grinned, glad to be able to say that without a doubt in her mind.

"You Xeran are going to be punished for all you've done to the no doubt millions of lives from the other dimensions. We aren't going to let you win here, either," Lincoln was determined to make sure the Xeran race lost this dimension's war, just like they had lost the war in the last dimension. Zeggfor looked infuriated to just be reminded of that. He had no choice but to either die or retreat.

"Enjoy your cockiness while it lasts! I'll strip the essence out of you with my own hands next time! But the Xeran still won this day, remember that guardians!" Zeggfor thrust a hand forward, firing a bolt of thunder and exploding the ground in front of them. By the time the explosion cleared and the three stepped forward, the general of offense was nowhere to be seen.

"Figures…" Lincoln huffed, letting his red curve-tipped star pop out of his guardian gauntlet. He morphed back to normal before pocketing it. Lisa would be annoyed that she would have to repair the suit's helmet, but there was nothing that he could have been done to prevent the damage. At least that was a minimal repair that would take a few hours at most.

"Well…" Lynn smiled to the other two, ignoring the insane generals ramblings. "…we won, right?"

"We did. Too bad we're large messes now," Lori retracted her sword and put it on her side. She had been stabbed, cut and bruised, so much so that she had no idea if makeup would cover half of her facial injuries. But in return, she managed to win the battle with her siblings and defeat over fifty textoth.

"It's nothing we're not used to… Consider them prizes for winning," Lincoln chuckled while rubbing his head. He had his right cheek on his face burnt and a lot of his body bruised, and was also missing a tooth that had been knocked out in the fight somewhere in one of the factories, which a rat had most likely taken by now.

"Too bad we can't put them in the trophy case," Lynn shrugged jokingly. She could easily pass off her injuries from Xerain as going too overboard in baseball practice, since it was mainly just horrible arm and shoulder pain.

"Wait… where's Xerain's essence sphere?" Lincoln wondered. They looked at one another, realizing they had forgotten about it.

"It should be by the containers out back… Unless rats made off with it," Lori said. She doubted the rats could carry it though. The three went off immediately to go gather the fallen Xeran Elite's heart. They needed it, to get any benefit against the Xeran race after all.

* * *

When the small drained group of three arrived out there, somewhat supporting each other with walking, what they stumbled upon was the essence sphere floating off the ground, spinning with red essence around it like a bug zapper attracting millions of red lightning bugs.

"What's happening to it?" Lincoln quirked, tilting his head.

"Did it absorb too much essence?" Lynn presumed.

"N…no way," Lori gasped, watching a small tornado of fire appear around Xerain's remains, and once it was gone, there stood the now fully healed train monster.

"I live… I live!" The resurrected Xeran Elite looked completely red and in rage now, like he had been soaked in magma. He opened his eyes, and they glowed yellow, focusing on the three terrified guardians.

 **"You all boarded the wrong train!"**


	51. Father Figure?

"Watch out!" Lincoln grabbed Lori and Lynn, he pulled them back as the now red Xerain charged without any warning, leaving a trail of fire behind him. The Xeran Elite crashed into one of the factories, causing a lot of damage and scorching the area around his impact sight.

"H-how is he alive?! We killed him!" Lynn was freaking out. Xerain seemed to have had all of his prior injuries healed and gone, like he had never been touched before. The locomotive monster looked even more improved than ever now. One of his fiery rampages could very well decimate much more than a hundred and fifty people.

"What do we do?" Lori looked to Lincoln, trying to stay calm, the three trying to remain low while Xerain was looking for them, leaving small trails of fire everywhere he went. His bright red metallic body looked hot enough to melt a car just by touching it.

"Come on out, guardians! You killed me once, and I don't appreciate it! Fight me honorably! Like real men! Train to man!" Xerain called out while looking around, not able to find his master or the army of textoth either.

"Where IS everybody?! …Master Zeggfor! Where are you?! Did those guardians kidnap you?!" Xerain kicked a set of barrels aside one melting upon contact with his leg, the reborn Xeran Elite charging off again and crashing through one of the factories. It was enough to do the final small amount of damage to cause the building to begin collapsing and caving in on itself with the Xeran Elite inside.

"Lincoln, what do we do?" Lynn repeated for Lori. Lincoln was deep in thought, trying to think this over.

"...We leave. Xerain isn't going to kill anybody now that he's hunting us, and it's pretty obvious the Xeran don't know about him reviving either, so he has no one to back him up. We can regroup with a plan and get him for good later," Lincoln quietly explained. His two guardian siblings understood his logic. It did make no sense that Zeggfor would run and be so upset with Xerain's death if he knew the locomotive monster would revive in this fiery form.

"Let's go then," Lori held her side in pain. Her siblings helped as they all began to leave the factories. The reborn Xerain remained in the factory that had collapsed. The three Loud siblings were past their limit, drained and with no intention to face the Xeran Elite in an easily unfair fight.

"Revenge… We got it already when we killed him the first time and beat Zeggfor up… But I'm running, not just because I want to keep you two safe…" Lincoln thought while he occasionally glanced over his shoulder to make sure things were alright. He felt Lynn grab his left hand with hers, trying to calm themselves down. A bright smile appeared on his face. "…but also because I'm scared… For once, since I became a guardian, I'm genuinely afraid of an enemy."

Lincoln kept those thoughts to himself. He was afraid of Xerain's revived form, just for the pure hatred and anger that emanated off of it, far more than the lone Loud boy would ever hope to have, or ever desire to acquire.

* * *

It took a while to get home after the hour that passed. When they did arrive, the house was empty. Nobody was home, and Vanzilla was gone, as well as their parents' other car.

"Where is everybody?" Lincoln asked. It was never a good sign when the Loud house was quiet. The three hurt siblings were more than glad to have a chance at treating their injuries and cleaning up, as to not scare their entire family and make them not have to worry much. They all knew coming home a bloody mess without any reasons or lies, would not end well.

"Oh… this explains it," Lynn pulled out her cellphone and presented it to her brotherly boyfriend. There were dozens of text messages from their various family members saying to keep an eye out for Lincoln, stating that he had forcibly left the hospital against doctors' orders. The Loud family members were all out looking for their only brother.

"I knew I was hearing a lot of good music during that battle against Zeggfor…" Lincoln coughed while looking over his phone. Even his voice box was full, with every one of his family members having called him when they realized he had left the hospital without one notice. The music playing during the fight was from each sibling's set ringtone, he just thought it had been in his head too.

"Don't worry. Let's just get ourselves taken care of first of all, then we'll handle them," Lori insisted.

"The first aid kits are in… I think the den. You can go get them from here. They are the ones that'll be unnoticed when they're gone," Lincoln instructed, viewing each text message in his entirely full inbox. His sisters went off to get the medical supplies. The Loud house had tons of medkits, because injuries were just that very common, but the family would be concerned if medical supplies went missing, with them not knowing why.

"You've all returned!" Lisa emerged from the garage. Lincoln felt happy to see the child prodigy. Lori and Lynn greeted her before continuing to get the medical supplies.

"I told you we'd be back," Lincoln felt Lisa's arms around his waist. The middle child smiled, picking her up to return the hug. It was still very weird to see her so emotional lately. Normally it would be a great thing that the monotone structure and straight face of hers were being broken, but there was no reason behind it. Lincoln especially noticed that she was getting attached to him, but he brushed it off, trying not to think much on it.

"Is the suits damage extensive?" Lisa asked.

"Uh… I don't know. I helped build it, but you handled the technical stuff. How hard will it be to fix this?" Lincoln presented his partially broken red helmet. The child prodigy took it to look it over. She had witnessed the part of the battle that had damaged it, having hoped that the electricity was just messing with the video feed, sadly optimism only got one so far.

"It doesn't look like anything was too badly destroyed… The circuitry will need checking, but if it all checks out okay or is in need of minimal replacement, it'll take two hours at most to fix," Lisa claimed while viewing the helmet. She felt her brother's hand on her head as he messed up her hair slightly.

"You're the best… I'm still going to help you out. Not to mention, there's really bad news about the Xeran Elites now," Lincoln claimed, trying to keep that calm, reassuring smile, but she could see the fear in his face. Lisa nodded, willing to know everything they had learnt, they needed all the information memorized by heart to help fight against the Xeran.

"Before you tell me the news, Lori's suit is nearly complete. It should be done by tomorrow," Lisa announced. Lincoln saw parts of a clearly very broken phone on the garage workbench. He assumed his younger sister was making their oldest sister a new phone, but it looked so complicated and confusing. Guardian Red wondered if what was to be Guardian Blue would be able to use it.

"That's great, because we're going to need all the help we can get," Lincoln smiled as he took a seat beside the child prodigy at the workbench. Here he could see the new essence transfer device, reminiscent of a small, round engine. It looked round and had five handles, which multiple people could grab and hold on while the essence transferred. The empty essence sphere being prominent in the center, with multiple various colored glass around it.

"You can test out the E.T.D in a moment when the others come back. Please inform me what has occurred with the Xeran Elites," Lisa requested. She had witnessed Lynn destroy Xerain over the video feed, so she assumed that it was over a new Xeran Elite that had been created. Lincoln could guess E.T.D meant essence transfer device, glad his sister tried to keep things simple for him.

"They're able to revive now," Lincoln just came out and said it while leaned back on the workbench.

"What? Lincoln, don't be preposterous. When death is invoked, there is no undoing it… well, beyond cloning, but that's a very horrible crime," Lisa retorted. Lincoln had a bad feeling she was close to making a comment about having individual DNA samples of their entire family.

"I'm serious, Lisa. These things are living creatures created out of random objects and people's emotions. I'm just as surprised as you are, but… something was different about this Xeran Elite already, but when he was revived, he looked different. He was so much angrier and left fire everywhere he went," Lincoln explained. It may have been small flames, but it was still a terrifying sight. He stared off into space while she was starting work on the helmet repairs.

"It was almost as if he was reborn from… anger, but it wasn't his own."

"...Perhaps that was it. These essence spheres do have random essences in them. It's not too far of an estimate to guess, that with enough they might be able to give the deceased another chance at life. I would be immensely satisfied if I could examine a Xeran Elite, but sadly, the closest we can examine are their hearts," Lisa replied. Lincoln nodded, understanding his sister's curiosities. Frankly he wanted the exact same questions in his head remedied.

"The good news is that he isn't going to rampage anymore. That irate bucket of gears is going to come straight for us only, and he has no idea where we are. The Xeran don't know about this either, because Zeggfor was way too shocked when he heard about Xerain being killed… either that or he's a good actor," Lincoln stated. If the Xeran did believe their Xeran Elite was dead, there would be no more interaction between Xerain and the majesty's general of offense, since they would no doubt be moving onto their next plan, which gave them plenty of time to deal with the rage reborn train.

"Yes it is… Though judging by your look, you're worried about being consumed by anger one day, like he was?" Lisa guessed. Lincoln was so happy lately, and he still was. As far as he cared, they had avenged the people that had been murdered. The second battle with Xerain would be a much more challenging rematch for them.

"I'm just worried that if I don't fight for a while that I might lose it… I've had nightmares about it," Lincoln said. Lisa began to recreate a new visor for his guardian helmet as she then replied.

"You have nothing to fear Lincoln. You can survive without fighting… You tolerated that the whole week when Lori was kidnapped. I'm 96% positive that your anger's in good check. If anything, your depression has diminished almost entirely," Lisa reassured Lincoln that he had no need to be afraid of losing his mind to anger and rage. They were in control of the guardian suits and not vice-versa, but the child prodigy did not blame him for having that fear.

"Well… I guess you're right about all of that… I know it's messed up to be happy that I'm murdering living things and people's emotions, and the only justification I can make up for it is that I'm doing it to protect people…" The Loud boy sighed, still not too comfortable with the whole murderer genocidal war aspect he was going though. Even if the Xeran race wiped out entire dimensions, it still felt like slaughtering to him.

"Can you stop being so pessimistic? You're constantly happy because your mind subconsciously knows the truth. You're not killing living things. Just objects that had stolen emotions forced into them to give them life, like very professionally crafted marionettes… You're freeing the emotions of the dead, to let them rest in peace… if that's any reconciliation to you, for me having to state the obvious," Lisa, irritated, elaborated on her perspective on matters. Lincoln surprised but understood most of it and began to feel a lot better immediately when starting to look at this perspective with her.

"Heh… you're the best, Lisa…" Lincoln turned fully to her, "By the way… why are you being so nice to me lately? Not that it's a bad thing. But you've been just as happy as I have been, but you're actually showing it a lot lately."

"I am, because… I can relate to you a lot better than most of our family...our father… You don't pretend to understand what I say or do. You try your best to actually get involved. No one else does that beyond Lana occasionally. I always wanted dad to do that with me, but he just never was into what I was fond of," Lisa explained. Their father got along with most of the Loud children, and he was able get involved and help with everyone when they needed it. Lisa, however, was where things were different. And it was pretty obvious, Lincoln just was oblivious to how bad it was on the intelligent child.

"You know dad, Lisa. He's worried he'd ruin everything you do. He's clumsy, and he doesn't want to ruin hard work of yours or cause explosions," Lincoln replied. Their father was not oblivious to Lisa's lack of emotional feeling to him, but if it kept the child prodigy out of harm's way by him being away from the dangerous stuff because he was a klutz, he would gladly take it.

"What's the point of science without failures? What's the point of learning or researching or developing alone, everything has to have a motive," Lisa claimed. "Whenever I ask our father for help on one of my projects, no matter how simple, he will try his hardest to avoid it. On the other hand, I don't have to care about that with you. I can be open, ask you for help. You're not afraid of what I do and you don't even understand half of my vocabulary. You surely remember the other night at the concert when I was having an anxiety attack? I would not have been able to go to father for that help or receive that type of comfort you gave me. You always make me feel much better… much stronger… much more confident. I don't know how or why either, but I appreciate it deeply, and can believe you being far more the person to be my genetic creator than he could be."

Lincoln stared, a bit wide eyed at her as she refocused her attention on repairing the guardian suit.

"Uh… Well of course I'm going to do my best for you I'd be horrible otherwise," Lincoln tried to process all she had said until more of the dots connected. Her only brother had no idea how strained the relationship between her and their father was. Trying to keep someone safe sometimes hurt them more. She may be a super genius, but no one could keep their emotions completely in check. They inevitably would burst out, in one form or another.

"Wait… Are you trying to say you like to pretend I'm your father instead of our real one?"

Lisa continued focusing on repairing his helmet without answering. Lincoln could safely take her silence as a yes. He sighed, not sure what to think on that matter.

"If it makes you happy to think that… then that's fine. Do what makes you feel better and I'll help gladly support it. You work hard, stay up for nights on end and have the stress of the world on your shoulders. The last thing I'm going to do is judge you for seeing me as a father figure," Lincoln explained, disappointed to discover the bad relationship their father had with the second youngest Loud, but he guessed it was better than it being a relationship of spite, "…I'm going to go find Lori and Lynn. They're taking a long time searching for those first aid kits."

Lincoln patted Lisa's back to give her reassurance and comfort, before he headed off to find their older sisters. He presumed that Lynn was treating Lori's injuries and required help with that. When he left the garage, all Lisa could do was set down her pair of pliers and the helmet. Tears welled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. The smart child took her glasses off while trying to wipe her eyes.

"Thank you… Dad…"


	52. Earned Rest

**Authors Note: I hope you all are enjoying this story, I'm trying my best with it. I mainly make this note because I do not know what to say to what many often request, as I write this there are over 99+ messages in my inbox. They all are either leaving inquiries to where they can find art of my stories, which I do not know how to answer either of...Or are leaving their ideas for stories or theories. I love that, the theories are great and it's nice to hear what people think and their insight. Leaving ideas for stories is appreciated, I wanted to apologize for not being able to respond to everybody. Because, a lot of the time I have no idea what to say. I try to get to as many as I can, I apologize for not being able to. I hope you all enjoy the story, and take care.**

"There we go. That should do it…" Lori finished treating Lincoln's last injury in his own bedroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. His bruises and cuts already looked a lot better, though he did not like the one large bandage on his left cheek, that he would be stuck wearing all day today and maybe tomorrow to help treat the scorch mark from Zeggfor's thunder.

"Thanks, Lori. I feel a lot better already," Lincoln hummed. Lori had changed into a new light blue colored long sleeved shirt and jeans. After hers were bloodstained, she had opted into burning them on the grill in the backyard to hide the evidence. Now she had tons of bandaging hidden under her clothing. Otherwise she and her siblings were in swell condition, according to Lisa and her medical knowledge.

"Hey, Lincoln! Lisa finished repairing your helmet," Lynn announced as she entered, holding his newly repaired and polished helmet to the Guardian Red suit. Lincoln happily took it, glad to see his own reflection in the visor, once he was done admiring the shiny helmet he put it away.

"That's great! I really need to thank her for all she does, somehow… I'll worry about how to later. We need to worry about our family first," Lincoln insisted. He showed no concern of Lisa's desire to treat him like her real father, because he was already dating one sibling, he saw what the child prodigy was doing as harmless to him, if it was how Lisa wanted to begin treating him, he would not oppose it.

"She's probably busy with my suit… But don't worry. Me and Lynn have a perfect idea," Lori hummed with a devilish grin. Lincoln looked nervous when he saw the same evil appearance on Lynn's face. The two sisters were more than ready to get him ready for this plan to save him from their family's wrath.

"You're going to get some rest, Lincoln… we all are in need of getting some nice shut eye," Lynn commented. Her brotherly boyfriend gulped as he felt her grab his left arm and kiss his cheek.

"I-I can't rest right now. What if Lisa needs me?" Lincoln nervously spoke as he was laid into bed, seeing Lynn's bandages around her arm and shoulder.

"We'll take care of her. You just pretend to be asleep. I'm going to borrow Lynn's phone and lie that you've been here all day they were away," Lori explained. She would cover for her only brother's reasons for leaving the hospital that way.

"…well… I guess," Lincoln reluctantly nodded. He suddenly felt Lynn grab his head and twist it hard to the left, and a lot of cracking noises sounded.

"Wow I… feel like better than ever…" Lincoln fell face first onto his pillow, snoring. Lynn had knocked him unconscious with a move her karate teachers had taught her, which was more for ending fights faster than helping others sleep.

"Well let's get this over with," Lori walked away with Lynn's cellphone, letting her stay lying there beside Lincoln and keeping cuddled close to him with a bright warm smile, with warmth radiating from Lincolns body. He felt like the perfect sleep partner. She knew they had a small bit of time before their family arrived after being given the news.

"You work so hard. You earned the rest. Sorry about doing it the forced way, but being really asleep works better than pretending," Lynn got up, covered him in his blanket, she then went off to see if Lisa needed any help with working on the third guardian suit while their brother was out cold in his deep sleep. He looked very happy and comfortable in his slumber.

"Boy is this going to be a fun day…" Lori sat down on the couch, her side throbbing in pain slightly while she dialed their mother's phone number. It was a safe assumption that their parents would be together searching for Lincoln.

"Hello?" Rita answered before the phone could even ring a second time. Her oldest daughter was impressed. Even she couldn't answer her own currently destroyed cellphone that fast.

"Hey mom, it's me. I've got good news," Lori lay back on the couch, feeling immense relief to just be off her feet.

"What is it, honey? Please tell me it's about Lincoln," Rita replied in a begging voice. She did not take the news of their son being missing well at all. Ronnie Anne and Clyde had said that Lincoln had left when they were away. The only reason his best friends lied was because of that argument between Lincoln and Ronnie Anne, it had scared Clyde next to quiet and Ronnie Anne was just caught in an awkward position wanting to not make it anymore confusing currently.

"We found him. It turns out he's just been home all this time, in bed. Right now, he's sleeping away," Lori lied, making it sound that Lincoln had gone straight home with the intention to surprise his family, but they had all went out by then. The sleeping part was used to cover up the lack of answering his phone.

"Oh, thank goodness… Is he okay?" Rita requested. The car was already changing directions to go back home since their son was found. The police were not of any help as they did not count him as a missing person since he had not been gone for twenty-four hours.

"Mom, he's happy and healthy. He fell on the stairs, but that's about it. Me, Lynn and Lisa took care of him," Lori claimed, giving the excuse for Lincoln's cuts and bruises.

"We'll be home soon. Thank you so much, Lori," Rita spoke in deep relief, before she hung up. The oldest Loud rested her younger sister's cellphone aside and stretched. She saw Lynn come down the stairs, looking a lot better as well.

"So how long will that neck cracking thing keep him out for?" Lori asked. It was scary that Lynn knew how to do that, but it was only useful on the unsuspecting, and meant as a cheap tactic to use before running away, or ending a fight before it could start.

"I don't know, but he looks like he's having the best dream he's had in a while… I guess knowing that an evil being is out for you, instead of thousands of other peoples' lives, gives a big sense of comfort," Lynn shrugged. She had no idea how else to put it. Her brotherly boyfriend was very weird, but he was the perfect type of weird to their family.

"Yeah that's the hero's life alright… The life we're now in," Lori yawned, getting up and going to the kitchen, with her sporty sibling following, to get an electric cherry soda to drink.

"The hero's life is not one I expected to live… You were amazing back there, though! For your first real big fight, you did great! And you didn't have your guardian mode yet! You took on all those textoth alone!" Lynn praised Lori, wishing she had watched all of it for herself, but fighting Xerain had taken her away from the factory where the large group of textoth were.

"I didn't take them all on alone. I just knocked the ceiling down on top of them… Skeletons are surprisingly real numbskulls," Lori claimed. She had held out in the fight until the best opportunity arose to take out the entire horde of skeleton monsters in one fell swoop. She was glad she would have her guardian suit tomorrow to have a form of protection and power enhancer, her injuries hurt quite a lot.

"That doesn't change the fact that you came out the dominate one, even when the odds were against you," Lisa had entered the kitchen, looking drained after that talk she had with Lincoln earlier that had really made her start questioning herself, she was pondering in her head if she was just a acting like a brat for not being appreciative of someone caring for her safety. She tried to keep focused on her work after getting what she wanted off her chest to Lincoln.

"Thanks, Lisa… I guess the Xeran have plenty of essence now if they are starting to throw textoth out a lot more freely," Lori stated. Unsurprisingly to them, it was only a matter of time before the Xeran received the ability to do exactly that.

"It's nothing to fear. Think of it as a good thing. The more textoth they make, the more essence is used in the process of their creation. It's a stroke of their lack of intelligence that they're wasting their resources on creating such weak monstrosities," Lisa elaborated. As long as they were not elite textoth, they were very easy to wipe out en masse.

"That's a pretty good point… We still have to deal with the Xeran elite's new abilities to revive, and I got a bad feeling Xerain is going to have new tricks up his metallic sleeve," Lynn added to the small kitchen meeting that was now occurring.

"And I doubt the same trick that beat him last time will work twice in a row…" Lori coughed, aware that the only reason that jamming Xerain's wheels worked was because she had the element of surprise. Otherwise, it was hard to sneak up on a train.

"We'll deal with Xerain tomorrow once your suit is complete. The Guardian Project's power will no doubt increase… We'll have to excommunicate the conversation here. Our family has returned home, I believe," Lisa exclaimed, looking out the window to the front yard. They could almost see the van enter the driveway. Lori and Lynn knew this was going to be a long afternoon.

"Let's hope things aren't too bad tomorrow..."


	53. Drained

"Wow, he is really fast asleep," Lola commented while holding a thermometer in Lincoln's ear. So far he had no fever. He had been asleep for the last ten minutes, even after his family's arrival. The bandages on him from the fight remained on his cheek and body, being falsely justified as a fall when going up the steps to get to bed in the first place.

"Yeah, he seems okay," Lana added, relieved while looking at his injuries. Luan and Luna had been ready to bandage him right up if he needed it. The Loud family had tried several times to wake him up from his slumber, but even the rock aspiring sibling's guitar and amplifier did nothing.

"He looks so peaceful and happy. Little Lincy must have gotten tuckered out getting home," Leni commented, finding the scene adorable. Lily was lying beside Lincoln, asleep as well with her favorite comforting blanket, after they had brought the infant Loud to see her brother, since she had trouble sleeping last night without him being home.

"We told you we've been taking care of him," Lori repeated while taking a few pictures with Lynn's cellphone of the two sleeping in the bed. The sporty Loud took her phone back, thinking she had leant it to her oldest sister for a lot longer than she should have. Guardian Black could already see it full of messages from Bobby.

"Lincoln just needs some sleep. Hospitals never give you really any good rest until they drug you out anyway," Lynn claimed, never being a big fan of hospitals or medicine because of her sports affiliation. She had been in the hospital enough to know that those medical beds were uncomfortable and aggravating, even if she was comatose.

"Mom and dad said to just let him rest," Lucy chimed up, entering the room and scaring half of her sisters. Lynn was just glad that Guardian Red could get that much needed sleep, even if it was a forced slumber. Lisa was in the garage still working away, in the new priority of working to maximum production speed to complete Lori's guardian suit.

"Alright. I'm really 'tired' of waiting around anyway," Luan punned to a few groans. Lincoln was not in any trouble. Their family just had been very scared that he would be in danger.

"Why don't we let Lily stay with him? It was about her naptime anyway," Luna suggested. They all agreed to let Lincoln and Lily stay sleeping away. The group of sisters left his room, Lynn and Lori watching them all scatter to go do chores, which they had discussed earlier to make sure their brother did not go stressing himself out. They would try and handle a lot more work around the home today by taking on all the chores themselves.

"Well that's one thing dealt with," Lynn breathed out a sigh of relief. She was worried that they would have had to make up far worse lies. The two made their way downstairs, wanting to check up on Lisa.

"Now we just have to get rid of Xerain and then hope the army coming on Monday is the least of our trouble…" Lori commented. Guardian Black could tell that it was a worry they were sharing. They could only hope the military supported the guardians, despite the vigilantism. Still, the desire for the military to be more useful than police was what they did not have much optimism for.

* * *

Zeggfor was back in their eldritch realm, being treated for his injuries by textoth. These skeletal members were in doctor coats and nurse scrubs. The general of offense did not even know why the skeletons had them, but he was too tired to ask. The textoth were weird creatures with weirder minds. If it amused them and kept them quiet, then he would not care.

"Zeggfor! My fellow general! Did things go alright?" Teronzata's annoying voice rung out as he entered the medical room, Mirayu beside him. They waited eagerly to hear the results of the first ever improved Xeran Elite.

"You annoying walking cactus. Does it look like it went well?" Zeggfor shortly replied. Despite the healing medicine the textoth were applying, it still was not going to be completely healed right away. It would take a day or three before the grey horned monster was free of any injury.

"Well, what happened? How'd you screw up?" Mirayu demanded, angry at any loss, but they had gotten a lot of essence out of this Xeran Elite nonetheless, so he had done his job correctly.

"He was doing great, but now there is a third guardian," the general of offense announced. Mirayu looked very angry at the mere mention of the bad news. Zeggfor stood up and punched Teronzata, knocking him back, hearing him groan in pain.

"What was that for?!" the general of defense asked, "I, the greatest swordsman in the world, did nothing!"

"The third guardian is that stupid blonde you tried to make your apprentice! She's using what YOU taught her against us! YOU are to blame for her treachery!" Zeggfor explained. The plant monster got his top hat back.

"How was I supposed to know she would not only be freed from our control, but also become a guardian? I'm the greatest swordsman in the world, not the greatest psychic in the world!" Teronzata retorted with one hand on his blade, ready to fight. The general of emotions shook her head and sighed at the two of them fighting with the medical textoth trying to pull them away. She began to head for the throne room.

"Your majesty! We're in trouble again!" Mirayu cried. BelGaner was seated nearby, keeping to himself with his thoughts.

"The third guardian… I'm more than aware," the majesty claimed. The shouting from the medical room of the castle was of no surprise. Zeggfor and Teronzata were two of the four loudest generals.

"These improved Xeran Elites are certainly an upgrade. Now Xerain will be remembered as the front liner to the Xeran race's next step in evolution," the majesty claimed, his head rested in one hand. The supply of skeletal bones in this room used to make textoth seemed unending, but thankfully were only on the sides by the entrance.

"So what shall we do next, your majesty?" BelGaner requested.

"…BelGaner, you're someone I'd like to only go to in cases of dire times. So, Mirayu, I'll let you handle this task, since the other generals are busy acting like children," the majesty pulled another one of his hearts from his chest and handed it over to the general of emotions. Her happy mask was eager to get out there to impress him as she looked at the dark purple essence swirling inside the heart.

"Great! Let me fill it up with essence and I'll…"

"No. Do not do it this time," the majesty chimed up. The two generals in the room looked to their leader in question.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" Mirayu requested, her mask changing to blue and sorrowful, wondering what she had done to him to not deserve the honor of making an improved Xeran Elite.

"No, but this is only being created so we can see what this new guardian can do… remember that our essence has variable emotions that could affect our Xeran Elites in many unpredictable ways. We don't want our new Xeran Elite to be created at random, just so they may cause mutiny to achieve leadership, or worse," the majesty explained, "…when dawn strikes, then I want you to go create this new Xeran Elite. We're purposely going to have him be a martyr for the Xeran race."

Mirayu's mask turned back to its happy variant as she understood. "Oh… I get it! We can see what that third guardian does! I have the perfect idea in mind on how, too."

Mirayu immediately skipped away to put her plan into action. BelGaner resumed polishing his flintlock revolver. The majesty, however, was looking tired, a rare occurrence that the generals saw him as.

"Your majesty… Are you alright?" BelGaner put his flintlock revolver on his side, getting up and going before the throne, worried for the Xeran leader. Despite the sitting upon his throne nearly all the time, the majesty remained insomniac, taxed more than ever as of recently in this dimension.

"Not entirely, BelGaner… Thank you for the concern, but even the last dimension's war did not drain me of my hearts and essence this much… We created our strongest Xeran Elites and elite textoth and released all of the generals out on the world in one surprising swoop… we prepared for each war so tactically because no one ever knew we would appear," the majesty began. BelGaner nodded, recalling the last dimension's war all too well. The generals fighting one another to impress the majesty was one fault, but that dimension surprised them all with their powers.

"That was one of our problems in the last war that the enemy did know. I believe it was due to the second ever traitorous textoth," BelGaner recalled it very well. The mechanical Xeran was the one who shot the skeletal traitor.

"Yes… They knew all our weaknesses and strengths and were far more prepared and technologically advanced than this dimension, and the other three combined… At first, it felt good to relieve myself of my essence to my offspring, but I'm tired. My hearts are taking longer to regenerate," the majesty explained what was wrong. The general of strategy did not know what to say. This war had barely begun, but the majesty had barely any time to rest or recover.

"…Your majesty, you need time to recover. We have plenty of essence… I have a plan in mind, if you're willing to listen, for if you fall asleep, I should at least be able to make sure the Xeran does not become extinct," BelGaner requested. The majesty had maybe three to five more hearts able to be made, before he would fall into an unknown length of sleep to regenerate his ark essence and grow a new batch of hearts. The majesty looked his mechanical general of offense in the eye. The Xeran leader did not have many options available.

"…Please elaborate…"


	54. Movie Plans?

It was the middle of the night in Royal Woods, as Mirayu was walking through the streets of one part of the city, in her disguised human form looking around for something that suited to her needs.

"Creating a Xeran Elite to gather intelligence should be simple, but I can't find the proper place that holds the… equipment?" Mirayu was nibbling on her thumb while thinking to herself. The general of emotions looked over to the left, where nearby on the wall was a line of posters promoting new movies that had just come out.

"My, what is this?" The disguised general went through some of the crowd, seeing the big line looking over the poster for the dark comedy, The Tale of the Undead Kings. On the front of the poster were two men with zombies bowing down to them with ominous red lights shining upon them.

"Movie theaters… hey you!" Mirayu grabbed the first passerby in her proximity with her arms, who happened to be a young boy looking only nine years old. Not what she intended, but she did not care one bit.

"Could you be a sweetheart and tell me what they use to play movies in theaters?" Mirayu requested. She did not want to go causing any havoc for no end goal.

"Dad's friend showed me once! They use big projectors!" The kid excitedly replied. That was music to the disguised monsters ears. She patted his head before putting him back down.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Mirayu happily began to make her way to the nearby theater that had been promoting all the movies along the walls outside. One thing the rainbow haired monster noticed right away upon entering, was how eerily empty the theater was for the supposed premiere of a big movie.

"Is this place closed?" The general of emotions quirked. She saw a sleeping person, here to work behind the counter that sold tickets, there was a small sign in front of him.

"On break, come back in five minutes?" Mirayu read it out, and shook her head, "This dimension is a lot more fascinating than the last few… Well, time to find one of these projectors."

Mirayu walked past the ticket counter, and she saw no workers in sight. She guessed that the lone worker was the manager doing everything tonight. Theaters were just a common thing sinking in Royal Woods. Only three theaters across the city had any conceivable success.

Mirayu went searching around for a while. For her, it was hard to do so without going on a full rampage. The general of emotions wanted to create the Xeran Elite before making any hostile moves or revealing her presence. The guardians were able to somehow always know what they were doing, and it was quite aggravating.

"Is this it?" Mirayu gasped, having stumbled into a storage room where the film reels were rested for films to be played and switched out when the time came, but what stood out the most, was the slightly damaged ancient-looking projector in the center of the room. This specific projector might have been around for a hundred years, and was just a historical bargain for the theater at present time.

"Ohhh, I can't wait!" She was excited. She went around to the side of the busted film projector, where she put the essence sphere into the side of it, where the bulb was meant to be. After a few moments, there was a bright light. The film projector began to change shape and grow in size, changing into a Xeran Elite with a large camera lens for a face and two large film reels in his shoulders, with several smaller reels in his back. A red beret was produced on his head as well.

"What can I do for you, my mistress?" The Xeran Elite bowed, thankful for his creation. The general of emotions pondered for a second to come up with a name for the new monster, whilst leaving out his sole purpose for the Xeran army.

"Xerector! We have been entrusted with a very important task… the task of making a movie for our majesty. Of course it would be starring the guardians," Mirayu giggled while reverting back to her true monstrous form. Xerector began to cackle while rubbing his hands together.

"Yes, lady Mirayu. Give me until tomorrow and I'll be prepared," Xerector declared, "This is going to be a box office bomb!"

* * *

It was around three in the morning in the Loud house. The day and night had gone on as normal. Lincoln was beginning to stir in his sleep as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing his own dark bedroom around him.

"Huh… Why's my neck very numb…?" Lincoln tried to sit up, but he stopped himself when he realized he was not alone in his own bed. Lynn was sleeping beside him, now accompanied by Lily and Lisa, both in their nightwear. Lisa's glasses lay on the nearby nightstand. Guardian Red was very confused, but he guessed he had fallen asleep and the other two family members had found their way into his bed, for some unknown reason.

"Sorry if I made you worry at all, Lily…" Lincoln hushly whispered while gently stroking his baby sister's head. She would most likely be the first of his family, who were never going to be members of the Guardian Project, especially since she was too young to support them in any way shape or form, beyond metaphorically. The Loud family did often find themselves talking to Lily with everything, and she never seemed to mind, so revealing their secret to her might be a good way to relieve themselves.

"One of you got drained physically… the other emotionally… and then there's me, now drained mentally," Lincoln thought while looking between Lynn and Lisa. He could only have a smile while he did. It may be slightly cramped, but he loved his entire family so much that he would let them all sleep in his room if they asked. Lisa, Lynn and Lily had their reasons for being here tonight.

"I thought I heard something," a quiet voice spoke up. Lincoln looked over to see Lori in the doorway, peeking her head in.

"Sorry… am I in trouble or are we good?" Lincoln jokingly replied, keeping quiet while wrapping his arms around his three sisters sharing the bed with him. The oldest Loud sibling found the sight very adorable.

"We're fine. They're all just happy you're safe," Lori replied, as she then pulled out something, which she flipped open. She used it to snap a picture of her younger siblings.

"You got a new phone? And it's a flip model?" Lincoln chirped confusedly. He knew Lisa had been making Lori a new phone, but a flip phone sounded like a significant downgrade on so many levels. He was amazed the oldest Loud even tolerated it. Lori took several more pictures, smiling.

"Lisa made it look that way, but its real high tech. It keeps the screen and insides safer. It's still got touch screen too, so not really anything different beyond extra protection," Lori explained. Lincoln was glad to know she had her new phone. He guessed it was her guardian gear. She was only up this late because she was texting Bobby. He was a lot more relieved to hear their family was not going to be bothering them as much anymore with the situation dealt with.

"Hm? I think you should go get some sleep, Lori… We have to hunt tomorrow, remember?" Lincoln suggested that they needed rest before they had to hunt down Xerain. He only said this, because he had noticed Lisa stir in her sleep from all that talking, and he did not want anyone woken up by him or Lori talking. Especially Lisa, she had earned more than her fair share of time to rest.

"Heh… Alright, 'daddy'," Lori teased. Lisa had told her and Lynn everything, having not shied out on confessing her feelings and telling them why she looked so depressed earlier. Lincoln could only roll his eyes in reply, aware that his oldest sister was going to enjoy torturing and teasing him with that name for as long as she wanted.

"G'night," Lori left to let Lincoln get back to sleeping. He wanted to lie down, but he saw his cellphone glowing, indicating a new text message. He gently took his phone and read it.

"Hey Lincoln. I wanted to just send you this before I go to bed. Your family bugged me all day asking if I had seen you, until they found you. I'm not gonna lie, bro. I know you are Guardian Red. I saw most of that fight you had with Ronnie Anne. I'm a little with you man, that she's a bit screwed up in the head, but lighten up a bit. I don't think she really thought hard before speaking. I just wanted to let you know so things wouldn't spiral to chaos, you won't have to go lying to me every time something happens. I can help cover for you when something comes up. - Clyde"

"Oh, Clyde… Glad to see things are getting better in my social life at least… In some regards," Lincoln thought while beginning to make a reply.

"Thanks, Clyde. You're the best friend anyone could ask for. Let me know if there's anything I can do to repay you." After sending the reply, he rested the cellphone aside before resting his head back onto his pillow, wanting to get back to sleep with what few hours there were left in the night.

"Now with the three of us able to morph… we should be able to protect everyone a lot better. …I just hope the only thing threatening about Xerain is his looks…" Lincoln thought while looking to Lily and Lisa. Lori was now able to morph to her guardian suit, just like he and Lynn could, and he was glad to know this. He could not wait to see her in action. For now, he just wanted to sleep, to regain all the energy he needed to confront Xerain again with his fellow sister guardians. His bed might feel more cramped right now, but it sure felt a lot more comfortable.

"I just hope Xerain is not as dangerous as he looks."


	55. Grown Up

It was early in the morning in Royal Woods. There was only one more day until the military arrived to the small city, and today was that last day. Lincoln was making his way downstairs, having changed out of his pajamas, back into his orange hooded jacket and jeans.

"Goo goo," an awake and happy Lily spat out her random baby gibberish while in her brother's arms. Spending the night with her returned brother made her gleeful as ever.

"Well morning there, you two. Glad you're finally up," the Loud father spoke as they entered the kitchen. Some of the family was in there eating breakfast, while the rest were still asleep.

"Sorry about worrying you all yesterday," Lincoln apologized while giving his baby sister over, so their father could get her fed with her breakfast.

"It's not your fault, Lincoln… We should have just waited to see if you'd come home, before we went hunting and assuming the worst," Lynn Sr. Looked embarrassed by how afraid he was yesterday. His son forcibly leaving the hospital against doctor's orders had really shaken his entire family up, but the lie Lori and Lynn crafted covered it up for him very well.

"Yeah bro, it's just great to see you happy," Luna added. Seeing her little brother with that same bright smile on his face like he always had now, made her just as happy.

"A lot more than usual anyway," Lana added. It was only their father, Leni, Luna and Lana awake at the moment. Lincoln was just waiting for Lori and Lynn to get ready so they could go out to hunt Xerain. The young teenager had let Lisa stay in his bed, since she was still deep asleep.

"That special girl of yours must really make you happy, Lincy," Leni giggled. Lincoln was glad it was only the three sisters, not counting Lily. Otherwise he would be in a very bad meddling storm again just from that comment alone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Lincoln rolled his eyes, brushing the teasing comment aside as he looked over his guardian gauntlet to make sure everything was alright. He could tell that his guardian gear was working, by his minor glance over alone.

"Alright, Lincoln, you ready to go?" Lynn called out while approaching, fixing her gloves onto her hands before zipping up her vest, having finished getting her own guardian gear on.

"I am. What about Lori?" Lincoln replied. Right on cue, Lori came downstairs shortly afterwards.

"Sorry, I was doing my hair," Lori apologized. She had her guardian gear already, the weirdly designed flip phone that was in a carrying case attached to her side, which was also made by Lisa and it looked sturdy enough to survive a bombing, she also had her personal sword and the baby blue three-tipped star on herself.

"Lori? Why aren't you wearing any makeup? Are you alright?" Leni chimed up. Lori usually put a lot of time and care into her makeup every morning, a personal daily ritual. The oldest Loud looked not much different without it. She looked slightly paler, but that was from not getting out much until recently. It would only be a matter of time before that changed.

"Don't tell me, Charles ate it again," Lynn Sr. Requested, hoping the family dog had not eaten more makeup. The last veterinarian bill when that happened was a shocker. Charles was in the living room, just lying on his side asleep, still having not moved much since last night.

"No, all my makeup is fine… I just don't feel like wearing any," Lori claimed. Lincoln and Lynn knew why too. Lives were in danger. Any time wasted was going to just transfer into more guilt, if anyone else got hurt. They had to adapt and change their lives in order to help other people survive. The answer Lori gave to Leni only confused and worried her.

"We'll be back later," Lincoln said, ready to leave, but he felt Lana grab his gauntlet covered arm, stopping him.

"Wait, Lincoln. Maybe you should stay home today. After all that time you spent in the hospital, you should take it easy… Everyone would love to have you help them out too," Lana tried her best not to sound like it, but she was begging for her only brother to stay, feeling worried for his well being.

"Yeah… I need a model for my next dress, and you always are the perfect size!" Leni claimed.

"And I need someone to help me work on my next song. I have another concert gig booked next week, people were really impressed with my last one." Luna then said. Lincoln smiled happily at the news, before crouching down and hugging Lana.

"Sorry, you three… I'll be more than glad to help you all when I get back… But Lynn, Lori and I have to go out and help others right now, too," Lincoln apologized. He had no plans of going anywhere else or back to any hospital, once Xerain was defeated for the final time they would come right back home, not that the trio were even close to implying how big this problem that they were going out to help people with had become.

"Boy, son, you sure are acting a lot different since the start of this month," Lynn Sr. Commented while bouncing Lily on his knee, the infant Loud laughing happily at the small ride.

"What can I say, dad? I can't be lazy anymore. It's time to grow up and be an adult. I don't like how fast it had to happen, either," Lincoln replied. He was going to miss his old life, but it had to go someday. He was fighting for his family and the world after all. No longer could he behave so childishly at the face of danger.

"We need to get going or we'll be late. Don't worry, we'll text and call later to let you know we're fine," Lori reassured.

"Take it easy, let the others know we'll be home before dinner," Lynn stated. Lincoln's words alone had somewhat left his family members speechless. After they said their goodbyes, the three made leave to begin the hunt for Xerain. They hoped it would be a cakewalk to find an evil train that left trails of fire everywhere he stepped.

"I don't know why but I feel like he's annoyed with me…" Mr. Loud muttered confusedly. His son did mention having to grow up, and it was true. He looked between the kid and adult tables.

"Hey, girls. Maybe we should talk about a new chair being added to the adults table."

* * *

"Come on! Work harder! We need these set up if we're going to pull off our grand movie for the majesty!" Xerector was barking orders to several textoth as they were on the roof of a building in the far northern part of Royal Woods, setting up another projector that was being angled downward to the area below.

"Why must I work with such amateurs?" He shook his head while rubbing the side of his projection lens, getting a major headache already with how clumsy or slow these textoth were for them to work at this pace.

"Come on, Xerector! I've given you all night to do this! It's dawn already, and so far we've only managed to set up four projectors!" Mirayu stood and complained nearby, her patience wearing thin. She would not mind at all, but the Xeran Elite would not inform her of his movie that he deemed brilliant.

"Well, this will make five! You can quit bothering me so much, Mistress Mirayu! Have you ever heard of artistic integrity?!" Xerector retorted while the fifth projector was finished being set up. The textoth were looking proud to have done this one in record time, compared to the last four.

"Ohhh! You are hopeless! You're more stubborn and idiotic than Zeggfor and Teronzata combined!" Mirayu stomped. She never thought she would meet anyone worse than those two generals of offense and defense, but she stood corrected. She had made the very creature that was worse than the two.

"Skree?" One textoth averted its gaze over the ledge during the two Xeran monsters' argument. The entire group of skeleton monsters dressed in red and green bodies and masks looked down to the streets and road below.

"Master Zeggfor! Where are you?! Master! I have no orders!" Xerain called out. Angered, confused and lost, and not being able to find his creator anywhere. Xerain charged through a set of parked cars, blowing them all up into a fiery set of explosions, a trail of fire left behind him. The explosion caught Mirayu and Xerector's attention, and they came over to the ledge having halted their argument immediately.

"Hey! I don't recall ordering any pyrotechnics to be detonated yet!" Xerector called out. Mirayu was astonished to see the explosion clear, and in the wreckage the angry train stood, smashing on the leftover heap of cars.

"Is that… Xerector, I believe we have ourselves another star," Mirayu jumped off the roof and landed on the street behind Xerain. The locomotive monster turned around, seeming relieved to see another creature of his race, especially one of the majesty's generals.

"Mirayu! Oh, I've been wandering around all night! I cannot find Master Zeggfor anywhere, I'm worried the guardians might have kidnapped him!" Xerain stepped toward her. Mirayu looked the train monster over, wondering why he was so much different, even his personality. The improved Xeran Elite was nearly engulfed in his rage and was barely keeping it in check.

"Calm down, deary. Zeggfor is back in the majesty's castle after he had gotten wounded from the battle, but he reported you as dead. What happened to you?" Mirayu tilted her head.

"I… I don't know. I was fighting Guardian Black and a blonde girl with a sword and they attacked me. I don't remember anything after that… I woke back up after a few minutes. but I couldn't find anybody!" Xerain explained. His memory was gone during the time he spent dead. Mirayu was certainly able to tell he lived up to his tagline of being the first of many upcoming improved Xeran Elite. Because this was a grand spectacle to behold.

"Well, I'm in charge of a plan… It's supposed to be a mission to gather information on the new guardian's abilities, and learn more on Guardian Red and Guardian Black. Why don't you work with me and Xerector?" Mirayu offered, "Gathering intelligence is nice but killing enemies would be just as good too."

"…really?!" Xerain let out a bright red blaze of fire from the smoke stack on his head, looking more than ready, and more than eager, to help out.

"I'll do it! Anything to get this train back on the rails!"


	56. The Third Guardian

**Authors Note: Hello all, I wanted to apologize for the last few chapters not being liked as much, it seemed. I'm sorry again, and I hope the future ones are to your liking.**

Lincoln, Lori and Lynn had spent the last few hours together, hunting for Xerain throughout Royal Woods. They found several signs of mysterious fire trails patterns and scorch marks, but so far any they followed led to nothing but dead end after dead end. The three of them decided to catch their breath when they were near the eastern part of town, a calm common business filled area.

"This is ridiculous… how hard is it to find a bright red flaming train?" Lori asked. Her younger siblings were just as surprised as she was with this matter.

"I hate to say it, but… Maybe the Xeran found out he was alive?" Lincoln suggested. As pessimistic as it sounded, he thought at any given moment, after the long while they took to get to hunting, Xerain could have been located by some other member of the Xeran race, and things went from there as result.

"Well, we haven't gotten any reports or notice that a train's been caught rampaging… There's no way something that angry could keep calm this entire time," Lynn declared. There were too many unfound pieces to this puzzle that required a lot more in order for it to be solved.

"Are you looking for me?!" They suddenly heard with a loud train whistle. There stood Xerain, and instantly any civilian in the area ran away screaming. The Guardian Louds quickly turned their attention to him.

"Just in time, train man. This time, we're going to make sure you stay dead," Lynn cracked her knuckles. They saw a large group of textoth begin to appear from around the corners of alleyways, like they were hiding for this exact opportunity.

"Bring as many skeleton losers as you want. They'll all soon be nothing more than dust in a second!" Lori got her three tipped blue star out from her pocket and pulled her cellphone off of her side.

"I'm not going to let you push me around this time!" Lynn got her rough-edged black star out.

"We may have gotten our revenge… but doing it a second time won't hurt," Lincoln drew his red curve-tipped star from his pocket, his sisters standing beside him. Their three stars all seemingly shimmered and glowed their respective colors upon the sunlight hitting them.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln inserted his red star into the back of his guardian gauntlet, and it locked close as fire spewed out. He spun around and punched it into the ground. The flames and embers engulfed him until he was in his red guardian suit.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lynn put her black star into the opening in her vest and closed it. She jumped up and dug her glove-clad fists and booted feet into the ground, cracking the earth beneath her, sending gravel flying up around her before her black guardian suit appeared upon her body.

"Hope I memorized this right…" Lori mumbled while the keypad on her phone popped open. She placed her blue star into it and closed the keypad, and she inputted the code that Lisa had told her.

"13-15-18-16-08," once the code was inputted, the phone's screen began to glow a rainbow of colors.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lori shouted with her phone held ahead, bringing it to the side of her head. A baby blue colored helmet appeared on her head with two silver stripes on it, and a small visor that could only let her upper face be seen. Lori's body was covered in a tight blue suit with white gloves and white boots. Her baby blue colored suit had a white stripe, going over her shoulder down halfway of her body, and into a small turn matching the shape of an L.

"Lock in!" they grabbed the fronts and backs of their helmets and secured them into place. The textoth looked surprised, letting out their random odd noises between themselves, while Xerain just stood glaring in anger.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln struck his pose as the claws erected from the front of his gauntlet.

"Guardian Black! Guardian of the essence that gives strength to all life!" Lynn punched her fists together while her guardian knuckles and guardian boots appeared on her.

"Guardian Blue! Guardian of the essence that grants tranquility to the world!" Lori drew her sword as it popped out. She struck her pose, standing there in her swordsman stance. The three guardians had an explosion of red, black and blue smoke behind them.

"Wow, this is quite the film…" Xerector viewed the three guardians from far away, his projector lens letting him view from this many yards away. Mirayu stood beside him, irritated.

"Ooh… That stupid third guardian… How long until the projectors go off?!" Mirayu demanded, "We've spent hours getting each of them carefully set up at various parts of town! If we don't get the guardians in the right place, we're in trouble!"

"We have fifteen minutes. Xerain's part is to separate them in this fight so we can see what they do. They are strongest together, but weakest divided. Therefore, we have a better chance when they're alone," Xerector responded tiredly. The life of a director was not an easy one, but the life of a director for the Xeran race was even rougher.

"Let's do this!" Lincoln said as they all tapped on the sides of their helmets, making the visors close. On cue, all of the textoth began to charge at them.

"Pain train, coming through!" Xerain began to charge at a high speed as fire spewed from his smoke stack on top of his head, going straight for the red guardian.

"Just shut up already!" Lynn grabbed a nearby bench, which was hard to do with her guardian knuckles, chucking it at the Xeran Elite. Xerain fell off his feet as the bench broke on him upon collision.

"Nice throw," Lori laughed. None of the guardians were going to have contact from Lisa at the moment, as she was most likely still slumbering away or not even fully awake yet to see the laptop alerts.

"Thanks," Lincoln nodded to his sisterly girlfriend. The three were going to have to watch out for this rampant train now. The textoth all began to dive in, swinging at them. He blocked three of the jagged scimitars with his gauntlet and shoved them up, breaking their guard. Lincoln slashed all three of the skeleton warriors, causing sparks to erupt from them all before falling over in defeat.

"Watch out!" Lori blocked a bone axe from hitting her brother. She then slid her sword down the handle and cut the textoth's hands, triggering his screech of surprised pain. She slashed its head and kicked it into another three of the textoth.

"Hup!" Lynn picked up one of the textoth and threw it, watching it knock down five other skeletal monsters. The sporty Loud jumped up and stomped on them all at once with her guardian boots. The sound of bones crunching was oddly satisfying. More textoth were coming already since the first group were half dead.

"You and me, metal maw!" Lincoln stepped before Xerain who had just stood up. The Loud boy jabbed forward, landing a blow in the face and causing smoke to burst off.

"Little flesh bag!" Xerain was about to charge, but Guardian Red began to shoot flames out of his claws. The Loud boy began to slash wildly, furiously barraging the improved Xeran Elite in the stomach. Electrical smoke and flames flew off during this to scatter onto the ground to die out a few seconds after.

"Spiral!" Lincoln began to spin rapidly, slashing like a madman, until his arm was grabbed by Xerain. He was thrown away behind him midair. The Xeran Elite charged after him. The red guardian gulped, before being directly hit by the train monster, tackled down the way and sent into the side of a building.

"Ooouugh…" Lincoln winced in pain. His whole body burned and ached from Xerain's devastating charge. The building's entrance was destroyed, and the people hiding inside were running away, screaming in terror. The locomotive monster seemed annoyed immediately.

"You people are annoying me! I'll get plenty more essence for the majesty if it gets you all to shut up!" Xerain was about to go on a rampage, despite the plan Xerector had in mind. Lincoln panted, forcing himself off the floor, despite his body's demands, and jumped onto the Xeran Elite's back.

"You shouldn't be worried about their screaming, when you're about to scream, too!" Lincoln declared, but no matter how many times he slashed or attacked Xerain, he could not do a single scratch on him. That metallic armor was much more durable than before.

"Scatter!" Xerain's chest exploded while he had been distracted trying to get Lincoln off his back. He had allowed Lori to unleash a strong attack that damaged him.

"Gaaah…" The locomotive monster was stunned from the attack, and the people were out safely. The red and blue guardians went back outside, where Lynn had killed a lot of the textoth, yet weirdly, no more were being sent out.

"Now!" Xerector declared. Mirayu laughed maniacally.

"H-huh?" Lincoln gasped, when portals suddenly opened beneath the three guardians' feet. They did not have any chance to react due to their lack of energy. Lincoln, Lynn and Lori fell into the three separate portals, all of which closed afterwards.

"Yes! We got them!" Mirayu cheered, ready and excited. Xerain groaned, coming back out from the building, his wounds beginning to regenerate with the very essence that had revived him.

"You could have done that sooner, you know!" The locomotive monster called out to the projector monster. Xerector though brushed him aside.

Xerector chuckled. They had come up with this plan fast and it had indeed changed hard, but it was still filled with its original intention.

"Just relax… Our actors have all been transported to their 'sets'. Now let us see how they play their roles,"


	57. On Set?

Lincoln groaned as his eyes slowly began to flutter open. He held his head in pain while lifting it off the counter it was resting on. Those sudden portal warps were such jarring and nausea-inducing nightmares that they practically always knocked him out.

"Huh…? Where am I?" Lincoln looked around. From what he could tell he was in a small diner, sitting in one of the stools at the counter. There was no one else around, the whole area as empty as ever. The windows outside showed nothing but the fog that was suffocating the sunlight. The sound of a hand radio resting on a tabletop nearby was buzzing with nothing but static.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Lincoln got up. He was not in his guardian suit, but his guardian gauntlet was still on his arm. All of his possessions were untouched. He pulled out his cellphone, wanting to see if he could call Lynn Lisa or Lori. Unfortunately there was no signal, but there was a text message.

"Huh… it's from dad," Lincoln wondered what his father had tried contacting him about.

"We've got a surprise for you when you get home. - Dad"

"Well… at least that's one thing to look forward to… Let's see, I have no idea where I am. There's obviously no food in this place, my ribs don't feel like they're broken at the moment… Only thing to do now is to go back to hunting," Lincoln thought. He was feeling a lot better, but this diner was clearly not meant to be opened. There was dust everywhere and the lights were very finicky. Guardian Red figured if he found Xerain, he would find his sisters. He left the diner from there on.

"Something doesn't feel right…" Lincoln commented. There was no one on the streets, and the fog remained, it was a thick and thinner less-harmful light grey smoke. He knew the source of it was unknown, yet it was obviously unnatural. Suddenly, there was a rumble, and the entire city was shaking. Lincoln turned around. There was a large dark figure that stood nearly twenty stories high. As the smoke cleared, the red guardian saw a giant ace card slam into the road in front of him, piercing it and sticking prominently out.

"I won't deny that this game is very, very rigged!" Gamban's voice echoed, with a loud laugh following behind it. Lincoln stared, wide eyed at the giant Xeran elite. Somehow, not only was Gamban revived again, but now he was a hundred times his own size.

"…uhh, I think I need to go feed Charles. We'll have a rematch later," Lincoln got up and ran in a panic, screaming. The giant gambling monster tried to stomp on him, and while he missed, he caused a micro earthquake and breaking nearly that entire section of road with it.

"Come on! These cards have your name on them!" Gamban pulled out two giant joker cards from his sleeves and threw them. One hit a small building that the young boy was running by, impaling into it and taking a chunk out of it. The second joker card landed behind Lincoln, narrowly missing him. The two cards began to glow bright red.

"Place your bets on whether you live or die, my little guardian!" Gamban's laugh echoed as the building exploded, sending its debris and rubble everywhere. The area right behind Lincoln detonated, flinging him to air. He could see the whole town from above that still shook. Things felt slowed down from there.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln was able to morph right before landing to save himself from damage. He got up to continue running in a desperate attempt to escape the rubble that was falling all around the area, while Gamban stood back and enjoyed the show.

"Lock in!" Lincoln grabbed the front and back of his helmet, hearing it clunk securely into place before he closed the visor. He figured this was either a deranged nightmare or trick being done because of the Xeran. Knowing this did not make it any less terrifying.

"Man, oh man… Lynn, Lori, wherever you are, I hope you're in a safer place than I am!"

* * *

"I don't like this…" Lynn was in a very packed fancy party for the rich, where she wound up being a security guard for this place. It was as bright as a casino, but any time she tried to inquire about names or reason for the celebration, people gave some dodgy response. That was why she disliked it so much, the only good thing about this place was the upbeat jazz music.

"So who's the host of this party?" Lynn asked one of her fellow guards, a black haired man at least three times her age. She wished her cellphone worked, but it refused to turn on, even though it was nearly fully charged when she left the house this morning.

"I hear the entertainments supposed to be good," the man replied, once again dodging the question, almost as if he barely acknowledged her. That was the fifth time now.

"Grrr… you mother-! …a-hah!" The sporty Loud had an idea hit her that could get anybody's attention, "I'm dating my brother, you know… It's pretty serious already."

The guard looked rather bored at hearing this random news. It just pointed more toward Xeran activity, but so far she saw none. She would understand a man not caring about anyone but himself, that was fine. But news like that would get a reaction from anybody, no matter how much they knew them.

"Think the entertainment will begin soon?" The emotionless guard replied. Guardian Black knew something was wrong, and it was confirmed when the music seemed to get louder, while wandering out onto the stage was the general of emotions herself, undisguised no less.

"Allow me to welcome you, our dear guests… You all are so gorgeous, but unfortunately for you, sweethearts, there's someone in this scene that needs to be cut out before the shot is done," Mirayu giggled into the microphone. The curtains behind her on stage began to rise into the sky, unveiling an entire row of textoth all dressed up in suits and fedoras, all armed with pistols and tommy guns. It was like a mafia had come to state some scary message for the town to hear.

"I'm just going to get ahead of the ball on this one… Not like any of you people are real, anyway," Lynn rolled her eyes while getting her black rough-edged star out, putting it into the opening on her vest and closing it.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lynn had her black suit and helmet appear on her. She quickly grabbed the front and back of her helmet and locked them into place. She tapped on the side of her helmet, making the visor close. Her guardian boots and guardian knuckles then appeared.

"Open fire, dearies! Let's make this scene gorgeously bloody!" Mirayu laughed, pointing a finger straight ahead. The skeleton monsters aimed their guns. Normally this situation would be horrific and terrifying to Lynn, but she could tell these people were phantoms, so she only had to worry about herself. The few acting afraid were faking it, as she could see with her bare eyes. Even the band was still playing the jazz music despite the chaos.

Lynn heard the sound of gunfire begin to ring out as she put up her guard, her guardian knuckles blocking the bullets and causing most of them to bounce off. Even if her suit protected her from bullets, she still did not like the thought of trying to soak them up carelessly. Guardian Black threw herself behind a table and knocked it forward, using it as cover to hide from the volley of bullets.

"Lincoln? Lori? Lisa? Hello! Can anyone hear me?!" Lynn tried to talk into her communicator demandingly, but there was no response. Her siblings were either not morphed or were unable to hear her, but not getting any response from Lisa was more concerning. It was far too late in the day for her to still be asleep.

"Great… guess I'm on my own," Lynn shook her head and sighed, trying to look at this positively.

"Well, at least I get to beat up on a general!"

* * *

"Well… I didn't expect to be in a place like this today," Lori, from what she could gather, stood in a small dusky town in the western age. The oldest Loud was gaining quite a few looks from the other people around.

"Guess it's because of how I'm dressed," Lori shrugged. She had tried to use her cellphone, but sadly there was no one answering her calls. She had perfect signal and next to full battery. But it seemed like the whole universe was ignoring her.

"I need to find Lincoln and Lynn, so I guess it's best to check out this place…" Lori told herself, thinking the best place to start would be the train station, where most people seemed to get into or leave the small town. Several were on the boarding platform. Here she saw the smoke in the short distance coming closer, and the sound of a train whistle rung out indicating it soon would halt.

"What the…?!" Lori stepped back, seeing the train that had pulled into the station. Out of it stepped Xerain, followed by dozens of textoth beginning to climb out through the windows and sides. The skeleton monsters were all dressed in cowboy clothing, they even went as far as to get spurs on their boots heels.

"Surprised to see me again, little miss hack and slash?" Xerain laughed, the textoth cackling slightly as well. They all had guns on their sides. How the Xeran were able to be armed with this kind of weaponry was not too hard to guess.

"No. I just didn't expect to see a train riding a train!" Lori replied while getting out her guardian phone, the keypad popping open. She put the three tipped star into it, closing it and quickly inputting the code.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lori brought the phone up to her head, quickly getting her light blue helmet and suit to appear. She grabbed the front and back of her helmet, hearing it clunk securely into place, and she tapped the side of the helmet, causing it to close.

"Bring it!" Lori drew her sword, hearing it fold out.

"Chaaarge!" Xerain roared. Fire exploded from his smoke stack as he charged for Guardian Blue. Lori jumped to the side, quickly slashing the shoulder of the train monster while he ran by since he was unable to brake.

"Hurk!" Lori gasped, feeling multiple lassos suddenly and painfully wrap around her arms and chest, all by three respective textoth.

"Skree-haw!" The rest of the skeletal warriors drew their revolvers, fanning the hammer and opening fire on her, the bullets causing electrical smoke to explode off her entire body. Lori cried out in pain, and panted. Once they had to reload she was able to cut the ropes with her sword since her hands were able to move enough.

"Now I'm mad…" Lori glared to the slightly scared textoth, that currently were missing their swords. Xerain was coming back, ready for this fight.

"The majesty is going to love this," the movie director, Xerector himself, was watching the unsuspecting guardians from each respective screen. "Once he sees it for himself, he is sure to promote me as the one and only director general of the Xeran race."

"The best part however, always comes when the film is **_edited..."_**


	58. Actors protest 1

Lisa sat in her room with her trusty laptop set open. She rubbed her head sorely. Lana and Lily accompanied her in the room, Lily playing with blocks and Lana half-awake and relaxing in their bed. It was the last day before the military would arrive. Lisa was surprised that all the schools for some reason were not open today. It was not a holiday, but an announcement on the news that a state-wide emergency was causing all schools and teaching establishments to be shut down for today.

"This is aggravating… why won't anybody respond?!" Lisa screamed in her own head, begging for at least one response from her three guardian siblings. On her laptop displayed the three guardian suits' status conditions. The vital monitors of her siblings wearing them were fine, and everything about the suits so far were okay, but no matter how much the child prodigy tried to communicate with her older siblings, she received nothing in reply. It was beginning to upset her with worry, too.

"Goo-goo?" Lily called out while crawling to her upset sister. Lisa gave a small smile, rubbing the infant Loud's head in thanks.

"You're right, Lily… I must stay in control of my emotional status. There are a million reasons why the communication could not be functioning," Lisa thanked Lily. The blonde baby just had a calming effect on her family. Talking to her made things feel a lot better for one reason or another.

"Now if only I had any ideas on what I could do…" Lisa bit her thumb. She had tried everything she could think of; reversing the audio to video receiver, boosting the signal strength, sending messages that could appear on the three guardians' visors, but neither worked. The child prodigy laid her glasses on the table in frustration.

"I should be prioritizing trying to discover a way to stop any monsters from reviving again, a method without destroying their hearts... I feel like I'm losing my mind. A thousand problems happening at once…! How can Lincoln even stay calm with all of this, let alone while facing the gravest of dangers?" Lisa buried her face into her hands and rubbed her eyes. Lily had gone to play with Charles.

"You okay Lisa?" Lana spoke up, having gotten out of bed and awoken fully when she saw the child prodigy looking ready to bash her own head into her laptop in her pent up frustration. Lisa put her glasses back onto her face, returning to her prior straight face.

"Not entirely Lana… Sorry for awakening you. I'm just worried about dad-err… Lincoln! I'm worried about Lincoln," Lisa caught herself. Lana, though confused, understood her concern. Lincoln had changed and it was just so sudden that the family was having trouble keeping up with his sudden mental and emotional growth.

"He'll be even happier when he finds out he'll be sitting at the adult table now. I tried to stop him from leaving this morning, but he said there were a lot of people they needed to help. I hope Lori and Lynn keep him out of trouble, if he's getting into any," Lana explained. This morning was still one to be engraved into their family members' memories. Hearing their brothers little speech felt a lot different than just words of growth.

"I understand and sympathize with your concern. I've grown a lot closer with Lincoln, as well… Whatever problems have arisen for him, he's had neither hesitation, nor qualms, with tackling them head on. If he needs assistance he will request it from us," Lisa explained while typing away on her laptop, watching the blueprints for the essence transfer device pop up. None of Lisa's family could even read blueprints this complex. She herself was having an idea coming into her head with it.

"Hey, since there's nothing we can do outside right now, how about I go get that weird looking Simon Says game from the garage?" Lana offered. She had seen the E.T.D multiple times, but she saw it as a harder version of Simon Says, since it had much more than four pieces of colored glass.

"That is not a toy… though… I do believe I need your help with it," Lisa claimed. The E.T.D was a complex device, and one mishap would harm the device immensely, but if they weren't careful it would harm them as well. The child prodigy needed help, without Lynn, Lori or Lincoln around. The only person she could go to was the most mechanically gifted of the family.

"Really? Alright!" Lana was more than up to anything to kill the boredom. She picked up Lily and rested her in her crib. Lisa left her laptop behind and opened as the two siblings left the room. The super genius child shook her head as she hoped for her three elder guardian siblings to be fine. She knew it might take a good amount of effort to work on the E.T.D, especially with trying to keep it secret from Lana, but help was mandatory.

* * *

"Come on out, little guardian! I know you're hiding somewhere!" Gamban's voice roared out across the air as Lincoln remained in hiding, feeling drained after having spent the last half hour running. His guardian suit had saved him from a lot of harm. So far he could find nobody else whom he could not decipher was good or bad, given the situation at the moment.

"I need a lot of help… but how can I beat THAT?" Lincoln took a small glance out the window, having taken refuge in a small hotel. Thankfully Gamban was not at the point yet where he was about to begin stomping on every building, presumably because the Xeran Elite wanted to see Guardian Red die before his very eyes.

"Well… Judging by how there's no army or cops, not even any stubborn people refusing to leave or any textoth trying to kill me… Something's making this happen, but it's only able to keep that big guy an this fake town around, and nothing more," Lincoln began to try and think while he recovered his energy. He knew none of this was real, but his death would be real if he just sat idly by. He had to find a way to defeat the phantom of this false Royal Woods, that was his only plan.

"It's like some cheesy eighties film… except I don't have a giant robot to go tackling that guy head on with," Lincoln got up and began to wander the empty hotel. He watched a lot of old movies with Clyde some nights when they were together. It was a usual guaranteed laugh, no matter what genre of movie they decided to watch.

"Well, I know his favorite trick with those stupid cards… Only one thing to do," Lincoln looked down to his guardian gauntlet. His finishing move would be the distraction for this. He made leave to try and get around to the side of the giant Gamban.

"Come out, you little fire ant!" Gamban stomped on the road, causing multiple buildings in the area to begin crumpling from their inner supports. Still, he could not see Lincoln.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst engage!" Lincoln aimed his armored gauntlet toward the giant Xeran Elite, his red essence spiraling up his arm into the gauntlet. His red curve-tipped star exploded out of it and went flying toward the giant monster.

"Eh?" Gamban felt the blazing fireball hit his fedora before it began to quickly get engulfed into a fire. The gambling monster took the hat off his head and simply blew on it, instantly putting the fire out.

"Well, that went down the drain fast," Lincoln held his head, catching his star and putting it right back into his gauntlet. Going out of his morphed form would do nothing but be dangerous. He had now given his location away with this failed attack.

"Have a pair of jokers, kid!" Gamban pulled out the joker cards. Behind him though, his trench coat shoulder had caught on fire, and the angle of the left card was too, causing it to glow bright red. Gamban suddenly screamed as the first joker card exploded in his hand, knocking him down and off his feet. He crashed onto a few buildings.

"Oooouugh… That stupid guardian brat…" Gamban looked up, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. The second joker card had impaled him and was glowing red. "Guess I need to fold this hand."

"Did I really get that lucky?" Guardian Red witnessed a large explosion erupt in the distance with the howl of defeat. He morphed back to normal as his red star popped out of his gauntlet, which he then pocketed.

"Bwuh?" Lincoln looked around with his pain-struck eyes. A few civilians stood in a western part of Royal Woods, looking at him in confusion.

"Great! I'm free… Hm?" The lone Loud boy had something catch his eye from the rooftop where the light had been shining on his eyes. He pulled out his cellphone and switched to the camera feature, aiming for it and zooming in as far as he could to try and get a better idea of what it was.

"A projector? Why's there a projector up there…?" Lincoln mused to himself, putting away his cellphone before heading straight for the building he had seen the projector on top of.

* * *

It only took a matter of minutes for Lincoln to get to the area where the projector had been set up. The device was just spinning its film reel constantly, but now it was not playing anymore. It seemed to have been cut off abruptly. From this height, Lincoln could see two more projectors in the far distance on other rooftops, they looked to be busted now as well just like the one he was near.

"Ohh, I get it… they used you three to make me fight some giant version of a monster from my memory. Talk about freaky… but guess they're busted now," Lincoln thought. Lisa's points stood more and more valid with every day that passed. He was very curious about how everything worked off this essence like it was magic, frankly he was not too far off with that guess, but Lisa would not be happy without that answer one bit. He turned off the inactive projector and took the film reel from it.

"Cut! You ruined the entire movie, you little guardian!"

Lincoln turned around to see Xerector standing there. The illusion had been broken and the trio of projectors was no longer having any effect on the red guardian.

"Well you're new, but my names Lincoln Loud!" Lincoln pointed a finger at the Xeran, "You put me against the same list of enemies I've beaten before, and I'll just beat them again… And you're about to go on that list." He grinned.

"You should never make the director have to get out of their chair! Now you're gonna hand that roll of film over, nice and quickly!" Xerector replied as multiple textoth began climbing up and over the sides of the roof and up the fire escape to join him, their weapons drawn. Clearly they still emerged from portals, but the way they entered for fights was for intimidation tactics, or dramatic effect. Lincoln couldn't tell anymore.

"Are you kidding? If you want it, that means I want it, but I'm not in the mood to be stalked all day by idiot freaks of nature," Lincoln may be tired, but that was not going to stop him from fighting. He put his red curve-tipped star into his gauntlet and closed it, the claws extended out. He blasted the film reel with a burst of fire, tossing it away behind him and over the roof.

"NO! Th-the recording! You ruined it!" Xerector screamed in terror. There was no saving that footage, or the projector it was used to record it. The teenage boy grinned, seeming to forget the fact there had been two others doing the exact same thing.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln morphed into Guardian Red, grabbing the front and back of his helmet.

"Lock in!" A loud clunk sounded. He tapped his helmet, closing the visor.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln struck his pose. Xerector was not any happier about this introduction. He already had seen the flashy explosive introduction that he and his siblings put on earlier. The Xeran Elite threw his hands forward, sending out two long reels of film to attack Guardian Red.

"Guardian Red, I'm going to show you a true director's cut!"


	59. Actors Protest 2

**Authors Note: I wanted to say thank you, we're nearing 30k views dear viewers! I appreciate all the support and criticism, I am trying my hardest to make this story as good as I can. I apologize again for not being able to respond to every message I receive, I am trying my best but they flood my inbox at such a rapid rate. Either way, please enjoy!**

"I never thought I'd say this, but I really hate cowboy skeletons!" Lori blocked a few revolver shots with her sword. Just as another one of the many cowboy textoth tried to get behind her to shoot her, but she heard those spurs clatter easily.

"Skree-owch!" The textoth cried when it was slashed across the chest, electrical smoke blasting off of it. Lori took the skeleton monster's revolver, spinning around and quickly shooting all six bullets into separate textoth. Each bullet caused a small amount of smoke to blast off before the textoth they hit fell over and slowly turned to dust.

"Looks like it's high noon," Lori smiled with her best southern accent that she could pull off. She never had fired a gun before, but surprisingly pointing and firing was easy. In the heat of the moment, the blue guardian was tackled by Xerain she was slammed into the side of the idle train on the platform.

"Oough…" Guardian Blue coughed in plain. She noticed several textoth beginning to climb into the train, with jagged bone scimitars and revolvers.

"Get her, boys!" Xerain roared after getting on the back part of the wagon. They had Lori trapped from both sides. She sighed, twirling her blade as it began to glow bright blue.

"Turning Scatter Slash!" Lori jumped up, spinning around and slashing Xerain across his head. The attack left a large gash that bled out electrical smoke. That quickly fabricated attack was surprisingly able to pierce the locomotive monster's armor.

The textoth began to charge at her while Xerain was stunned and in immense pain. A few stayed in the back to begin shooting with their revolvers. Lori kicked the first one in the stomach, making it hunch over, she slammed the hilt of her blade onto its back, forcing it onto the floor. She stomped on its skull to finish it. She then blocked the second's attack, all the while trying her best to dodge the bullets being fired wildly at her.

"How many of you are there?!" Lori was getting frustrated. She knocked the sword aside and stabbed the textoth through the chest, ripping her blade back out. She threw herself to the right to dodge the volley of gunfire, hiding behind one of the sets of seats.

Guardian Blue saw three textoth loom over and swing their jagged scimitars downwards to her. Lori did her best to block the combination of attacks. Her arms were in pain from trying to put up with all this abuse. Her entire body wanted to give out at this rate. The oldest Loud kicked the first textoth's legs, making them bend inward and collapse, allowing her to swing the swords downward to make their scimitars dig into the wooden planks of the floor, giving her the opportunity to slash them both to dust.

There were only five textoth left on the train, only one sword wielder up front, and four revolver wielders in the back. Lori looked back to the idle Xerain, seeing he was still in agony, his body healing from her attack making him immobile until it recovered. She made a mental note of this, but she wanted to deal with the many small enemies first.

"I need you for a second. Sorry," Lori apologized and knocked the textoth's sword out of its hand.

"Skree?!" The textoth cried when its arm was grabbed and turned around, being forced behind its back. Lori began to force it down the rows of chairs as the other cowboy textoth began to shoot their revolvers, but all they did was hit their comrade that Guardian Blue was using as a personal shield, each shot causing explosions of electrical smoke to trail behind them.

"Scatter!" Lori knocked her skeleton shield down, jumped up and swung a long, wide, sharp blue energy wave. The four gun wielding textoth were hit, sparks bursting off of them as they all collapsed. The oldest Loud turned to the now fully recovered Xerain, his armor fully repaired. The angry red tone of his metallic body brought fear to any human eye.

"You're going to pay for that! Charge!" Xerain let out a burst of fire from his smoke stack, beginning to charge for Lori. She rolled her eyes, putting up her guard. She could not dodge or run in this tight situation. The improved Xeran Elite hit her head on, knocking her off her feet and back outside. Lori hit the dirt and slid a good distance, letting out a loud cry of pain.

"Oww…! I need to stall him again by making him regenerate… What was that stuff Lisa was telling me about?" Lori mumbled, trying to recall what their second youngest sister had told her, since when she gave her the guardian suit. Lisa gave a long speech to accompany it, like she did for Lynn and Lincoln.

"…that's right! My finisher!" Guardian Blue hopped back to her feet. The dusty old western town began to get quite windy, the dust beginning to blow up everywhere as a few tumbleweeds passed by. Xerain prepared for a strong charge, with full intention to put a gruesome end to his opponent.

The blonde short haired girl tapped the side of her helmet, making the side open where her three-tipped blue star exposed itself. Lori took the star out and closed the side of her helmet back. She put the star onto the hilt of her sword, hearing it click into place. She touched the side of it with her thumb, watching as her light blue essence began to pour into it from her arm.

"Guardian Finisher! Blitz Blade! Engage!" Lori spun the blue star, watching it break into multiple parts. Two of the three points went on the sides of the hilt, while the last one went to the very end of the blade. The core of the star began to glow brightly, making her sword gain an ominous radiating blue aura to it.

"You make that glow stick as bright as you want! I'm still gonna grind you 'til you have no bones left!" Xerain roared, his whistle blowing as he made the hard charge, tearing up the ground beneath them. Lori just gripped both hands onto her blade.

"Scatter!" She swung rapidly. Each wave of energy that hit Xerain slowed him down, and cut into his metallic armor faster than it could recover. Electrical smoke burst from him with each hit. Once the improved Xeran Elite had lost too much speed, Lori readily ran at him in retaliation.

"Here we go!" Guardian Blue stabbed Xerain in the stomach, making him stop completely. The electrical smoke popping from him was the sign that this was too much pain for him to handle. His body was trying to regenerate, beginning to force him into being unable to move. Lori pulled her blade back, and the blue glow seemed to intensify.

"Turning Scatter Slash!" Lori spun around, slashing Xerain across the chest, making a deep gash. The last time she had used that move was quite effective, and sure enough it was even more critically injuring than before when combined with her finisher. His essence sphere was exposed, spiraling full of hot red essence. The blonde haired girl jabbed forward, stabbing the Xeran Elite's heart.

"Sorry, Lisa… But I didn't have much choice." The oldest Loud mentally apologized, aware that they needed all these essence spheres. Each one was important and impossible to replicate, as far as Lisa had tried. These were the very items helping them in the war against the Xeran race. But this was the only way of doing this, the improved Xeran Elite had to be stopped once and for all.

"Grah! Ahh! Ahhhh! What did you do?!" Xerain asked in a panicked terror, as the essence began to spill out from the cracked essence sphere, gradually spiraling out of control before suddenly exploding within his chest. The locomotive monster stood there wide eyed, his body no longer regenerating. The red steel was no longer any color, now having been reduced to its regular rusty state.

"I did what my brother wanted, and avenged those you killed," Lori took her star out of her sword and put it away. She let her sword retract into its compact form and put it on her side before morphing back to normal. She stood there cut and horribly bruised with a few bullet marks on her, but she had tolerated worse.

"Guh… I guess I've been working on this railroad all the live long week…" Xerain fell onto his face an exploded into a big cloud of fire. Only a few metallic fragments and the destroyed essence sphere remained.

"And STAY dead," Lori spat. With Xerain gone, and permanently this time, which she took a lot of comfort in, she tried to take in a breath and exhale to calm down, she took a seat on the dusty ground to give her legs the much needed rest they needed.

"What a relief… h…huh?"

Guardian Blue noticed the western town slowly fade to blackness, as would any film after the final scene, and she saw words appear in the air in cursive writing.

"Fin…?" Lori held her head in pain when she shook her head, she was back in Royal Woods like nothing had happened.

"D…did I just get transported back here?" Lori looked in confusion. She now sat under a tree at a playground where some children were playing with the many leaves around, which soon would be followed up by snow in the upcoming month.

"Great… I'm tired and I feel like throwing up and passing out at any given second… I'd better go find Lynn and Lincoln before that happens."

Lori sighed as she got up and left the playground. Her body wanted to give out on her, and she hated knowing that it was already past its limits. However, on the rooftop of a nearby building, one of the five projectors resided, now worthless, but textoth were eagerly taking the film reels out of it.

"Skree-ke-ke-ke," One of the skeleton monsters cackled. The other gave a thumbs up. Once the film reel was safely removed and secured, they took their jagged scimitars and began bashing the projector until it was nothing but a pile of scrap. The two thus left into a portal to turn this film over to the general that requested they be gathered up within the eldritch realm.

* * *

"Come on! Keep sending more!" Lynn laughed, while punching two more textoth away. The mafia dressed skeletons crashed into a table, breaking right through it. Guardian Black had to block another heavy volley of machine gun fire. It was getting ridiculous how many there were.

"Oh, don't worry, deary. I'll gladly send them all out for you especially," Mirayu laughed, watching from on stage. It was then that she started to notice that the textoth were messing up and turning into static for brief moments, which would stun them and leave them open to Guardian Black's attacks.

"What is Xerector doing?! He was supposed to be handling that stupid red guardian! He already has three of them, so why is he taking power from this projector as well?!" Mirayu looked furious as her mask spun upside down, turning into its angry face as her skin began to change color. She slowly began to grow and become lankier, her long claws showing.

"I'll handle it myself, then!"

Mirayu jumped off stage. Lynn heard a loud stomp while she was in the process of crushing another one of the skeleton warrior's heads. The sporty Loud quickly spun around, using the textoth as a shield before the claw attack hit her, knocking her away and killing the poor textoth instantly.

"Ow! …Daaang, for someone who cares so much for her beauty, you sure have an ugly true form!" Lynn called out. Mirayu twitched, taking in a deep breath and spewing out a giant wave of fire.

"Oh, come on! Fire, too?!" The sporty Loud put up her guard before being engulfed completely in the flames, feeling how painfully scorching the flames were despite her guardian suit's protection.

"Burn, little deary! Hahaha!" Mirayu laughed, watching the flames burn the entire room. Suddenly, Lynn jumped out of the fire, pulling back her heated up guardian knuckles and slammed both of them as hard as she could into the general of emotion's face, knocking her onto her back.

"Hope you like burn marks, ugly." The sports loving girl grinned, Mirayu seeing in a broken piece of glass that her face had been burnt from the pair of punches. She looked devastated. She rose up, beginning to twitch wildly.

"You… I'll eat every piece of you alive…!" She giggled, but it echoed in a spooky ominous tone, "I'm not going to kill you… I'm going to capture you and eat you bit by bit to regain my youth!"

Lynn did not enjoy the sound of that. "Sheesh… Lincoln was right when he said the masked monkey was very sensitive about her appearance…"

The general of emotions began to suddenly tear up the room, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Lynn. The textoth were being killed in the confusion, and the general of emotions did not care. Guardian Black kept punching and blocking anything thrown at her.

"Keep doing it, ugly! Come on!" Lynn jumped up over a slot machine that was chucked at her, and she punched it in half, watching coins fly everywhere and scatter all over the floor.

"Rahhh!" Mirayu began to breathe fire, like it was icing on the cake. The entire room was getting engulfed in flames. Lynn was starting to notice things changing, and before they knew it, she found herself on a random rooftop with the general across from her.

"Oh… oh no! It broke!" Mirayu gasped while quickly reverting to normal, the projector standing nearby and smoking violently, threatening to break down. The general of emotions somehow saw this as more important than her opponent. She quickly grabbed the reel of film from it.

"We'll have a rematch, and then your flesh will be mine! Until then, I'm going to let you play with someone who's served their purpose!"

"Hey don't you run from me you ugly old hag!" Lynn shouted after her, but the general of emotions had already hopped into a portal by then to escape to the eldritch realm, keeping the film safe. Lynn mentally cursed to herself, sighing as she tapped the side of her helmet, opening her visor and allowing her to get a breath of fresh air after that long fight.

"You really are as annoying as a real director!"

Lynn heard her communicator chime out Lincoln's voice, followed by the sounds of struggling.

"Lincoln? Oh, thank goodness you're alright… What's going on? Where are you?" Lynn requested. Hearing her brotherly boyfriend in danger had her worried and wondering how long he had been in this position.

"Lynn! Perfect timing! I'm dangling off the side of a roof and fighting a living film projector! I think I'm at Antburn Avenue! Can you help me out?" Lincoln requested. He knew what street he was on, because he recognized a bakery that was down below that his mother had taken them to before.

"What? Great… of course Xerain couldn't be alone… I'll try and get ahold of Lori! Just hang on!" Lynn insisted.

"I'm trying! Just hurry, please!" The communicator cut out. Lynn guessed they were still messed up from being in that fake film dimension that Mirayu had accidentally destroyed in the heat of the battle. Lynn began to head for the fire escape to go save him.

"Just stay safe, Lincoln. We'll save you… no matter how tired I am."


	60. Shinobi's Peace?

**Authors Note: Hello all, I just wanted thank you all for supporting this fanfic. We're still nowhere near done, I am amazed we reached 60 chapters. I hope you all enjoy! And take care!**

"Ow, ow, ow! Knock it off!" Lincoln cried out in pain while hanging onto the side of the rooftop where he had been fighting on a moment ago. A few textoth had gotten the surprise on him and shoved him off in an attempt to throw him down to the road below. Guardian Red was just hanging on for dear life while Xerector barraged him with whip-like film reels.

"You destroyed something important, boy! But none the less, today, the Xeran win!" Xerector laughed. The textoth were cackling while trying to slash at the teenage boys hands to make him fall. Lincoln was barely able to dodge it all by swinging around, but that did not make him feel any safer. While looking at the window slightly ahead of him, he suddenly got an idea.

"Like the answer to many things lately… property damage seems to be the only option," Lincoln sighed, not proud to be harming any part of town, but it was either this or a nasty fall. Guardian Red swung and kicked before letting go of the roof, crashing through the window shattering it into a million small pieces as he fell through it. He landed hard on his back, which hurt a lot but gave his arms and body relief from the whipping and constant lashing he had been receiving from the angry living projector. There were several confused people in the room looking at him.

"Hey, uh… you may all need to evacuate the building," Lincoln suggested. The place seemed to be a small office that thought the monotony of casual Monday was going to be as interesting as today got. They did not anticipate witnessing Guardian Red crash into their very building.

"He-hey before I run away screaming in terror at whatever's about to break in behind you, can I get your autograph? My son's a big fan of yours," one of the workers requested, holding a small book and pen. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow, guessing that was not much of a surprise. Some people hated the guardians, so it was only natural there would only be people who loved them as well.

"I guess, but I've never given an autograph before…" Lincoln took the pen filled with red ink. It was not like he could sign his name, and he was not about to go making up a surname for his heroic identity, making up a fake name would result in those with that same name coincidentally to get constant harassment. He had an idea come to mind, and began to scribble away on the notepad.

"There you go!" Lincoln smiled, having simply drawn a picture of his red curve-tipped star with flames and beady eyes. He did not understand Lisa's choice for the stars natural aesthetic design, but somehow it made the stars look equally alive just like the very essence they contained.

"My, that certainly is unique… Thank you so much," The man thanked Guardian Red, before they heard windows shattering as textoth began to climb into the office. They had used film reels bound together as makeshift rope to get into their office level. The man ran away screaming in terror, just as he promised he would.

"I never thought I'd see multipurpose film reels in my life…" Lincoln got his guardian gauntlet ready and charged right for the textoth, ducking the bone axe the first one swung before slashing its face with his claws, causing sparks to blast off. The red guardian kicked the second textoth out the window, hearing it cry in terror as it fell to its doom. The third textoth slashed him in the back, sparks exploding off his upper back. He grit his teeth before impaling the textoth's head against the wall with his claws, keeping it pinned there until it became nothing but bone dust.

"There you are!" Xerector chimed up, standing across on the other side of the office. Everyone had cleared out, thankfully. The projector monster raised his hands to the lens on his face, as the reels on his back and shoulders spun rapidly. When his hands were removed, his lens began projecting a bright light momentarily. The mafia textoth appeared afterwards, armed to the teeth with firearms.

"What the-?!" Lincoln stepped back in surprise, watching the tommy guns get aimed at him and their triggers be squeezed. Bullets instantly went flying everywhere, shredding apart a good chunk of the office. Guardian Red had electrical smoke bursting off from every limb as he was riddled with the tiny metal fragments. Lincoln was knocked flat on his back, smoke emanating from all over his body, his suit had protected him greatly, but sure enough, there was still sharp pain all over.

"Hahahah! I don't need essence to make textoth! I can create these movies in real life, my little guardian friend!" Xerector began to laugh maniacally while Lincoln groveled on the floor in agony, as long as he had those film reels on his back and shoulders, he could make armies of textoth.

"Guardian Finisher! Star Striker! Engage!"

The textoth suddenly all got mowed down by four jagged parts of a familiar black star. They did not even stand a chance when surprised like this.

"Lori! Lynn!" Lincoln was happy to see the other two guardians, groaning as he forced himself up onto his feet, despite his body's cries of agony. Lynn caught her star when it came back, and she returned it to her suit's opening, closing it back in. The black and blue guardians rushed to his aid. They had came here morphed, to be prepared for this battle.

"Are you okay, Lincoln?!" Lynn hugged him.

"Ye-yeah… I've just been trying to deal with this projector, he has a dim bulb for a brain," Lincoln held his chest. Even breathing hurt him badly. That insult seemed to only upset the Xeran Elite and anger him further.

"You think you're in any condition to fight this director?! Hah! Don't make me laugh! I'll make you retake those scenes a hundred twenty-seven times! Once mistress Mirayu and my assistant Xerain arrive to aid me!" Xerector declared. The three siblings looked between one another. Lincoln wanted to make some witty retort, until his sisters spoke up before him.

"Sorry, but your friend's dead. I left his heart in pieces to make sure he wasn't coming back, either," Lori stated while twirling her sword.

"And Mirayu ran off after I put some new burn marks on her face," Lynn bashed her guardian knuckles together. Xerector was not sure how to respond.

"We know you're not nearly as tough as Xerain… You just have some neat tricks," Lincoln declared. Xerector looked terrified to know that he was now alone. Now that he had served his purpose, Mirayu had no further need for him. He was as worthless as a regular textoth. Lincoln was ready to battle with his two sisters.

"Let's finish him off!"

"Lincoln, I'm too tired to use my finisher again… I ran the entire way here when Lynn called, plus Xerain really gave me a workout," Lori claimed. She had nothing left to use for her finisher. She could not even use scatter any further without risking collapsing into unconsciousness, it took the last of her power to just morph into her guardian mode for protection.

"I tapped myself out saving you from the gun wielding goons," Lynn sheepishly confessed. She was tired as well from fighting against a crazy Mirayu, while blocking everything that had been chucked at her back in that fake mafia movie.

"And you think I can do it? I had to fight a giant!" Lincoln annoyingly responded, he had burnt himself out just by surviving that, spending the last seven minutes dangling off the side of a building did not help his energy either. He still could not get a response from Lisa since she was not at her laptop.

"Hah! You guardians are pathetic! Take this!" Xerector threw out multiple small reels of film that instantly began exploding all around them when they hit the floor, the explosion knocking them out of the building and onto the streets below, where the collision upon the hard ground sent out shock waves of pain through their bodies.

"Ooough… So that's what it feels like to fall from the seventh story of a building…" Lynn coughed while lying on her stomach. Xerector jumped out from the giant hole in the building, landing onto his feet. The people around screamed in fear upon seeing the monster, while rubble continued to fall around the building.

"Lori? Are you okay?" Lincoln asked to Lori who lay on her side, holding her arm. The oldest Loud morphed back to normal, not able to maintain the form anymore.

"No… But I'll live," Lori replied, her three tipped blue star beside her. Lynn though was up and furiously charging for Xerector, the other two siblings looking to see this. Lincoln morphed back to normal, letting his red curve-tipped star pop out of his gauntlet and taking it in his hand, before picking up Lori's star as well.

"You just sit back and relax. I'll handle this," Lincoln stated. Guardian Blue wondered what he had in mind, but she nodded, starting to catch onto his idea, when she remembered the incident at the park between her and Lynn.

"I just hope this doesn't explode on me," Lincoln opened the back of his gauntlet and put in Lori's three-tipped star, watching his guardian gauntlet close momentarily before opening again, her star having now vanished, Lincoln took in a deep breath before he put in his red curve-tipped star.

"Get off me, you stupid little guardian!" Xerector kicked Lynn away, Guardian Black landed on her back but quickly rolled back onto her feet. She kept that boxer stance ready, wanting to brutalize this living projector Xeran Elite to pieces. They suddenly were interrupted by something catching the monsters eyes.

"Now that's some special effects!" Xerector commented. Lincoln was completely surrounded by red and light blue essence he spun around absorbing it all in one quick fashion.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln fired out a blast of purple smoke from his guardian gauntlet. The entire street and road was engulfed in seconds. Neither Lynn nor Lori could see anything, the Xeran elite had gotten the worst of it clearly.

"I've seen enough fog machines in my life kid!" Xerector roared, looking around in irritation, "Enough playing around! Come out and fight like a kid, and DIE like a man!"

Suddenly, his back exploded with flames and smoke.

"My film!" Xerector screamed as the reels on his back burned to ashes. The ones on his shoulder were then cut to pieces seemingly out of nowhere, like the air itself had been attacking him.

"Whoa…" Lynn was impressed, aware of what her brotherly boyfriend was doing by taking out the method the Xeran Elite used to fight, taking away his ability to summon textoth without consequence. The purple smoke began to clear, only to then reveal a figure at the end of the road.

"Eh? Wh-what is this?!" Xerector gasped, turning around in shock.

"Lincoln?!" Lori's jaw dropped.

"That's Lincoln?!" Lynn said in awe.

"You wanted a fight from a man? Well sorry, you're getting one from a teenager," Lincoln stood in a light violet colored guardian suit. His had combined with Lori's. The fusion had the white L across his chest from the shoulder and lines going up his side. His helmet was completely solid in color, lacking any silver stripes, but having one long horizontal visor. His guardian suit had changed colors from red to violet, and had become a lot slimmer than it already had been. The gloves on his hands were now solid black, as well as his boots.

"What is this nonsense?!" Xerector demanded, watching the teenage boy grab the front and back of his helmet.

"Lock in!" The violet guardian got his helmet secured into place and got into his pose.

"Guardian Violet! Shinobi Mode! Guardian of the essence that unlocks inner peace within all life!" Lincoln announced, watching a combined red and teal explosion of smoke appear behind him as he stood with his hands together, Lynn stepped aside, aware this new guardian combination mode was going to get crazy. She was quite eager to see what it could do.

"This movie is falling into so many genres. We're going to have to categorize it under parody…The critics are going to tear it apart." Xerector shook his head. He raised his arms and summoned twenty textoth from portals, watching them all appear. Since his film reels were destroyed, he could no longer summon or create them freely, having to now do it like the rest of the Xeran.

"Go get him!" Xerector ordered, watching as the textoth all charged with their weapons drawn. Three textoth swung their jagged scimitars, but the Loud boy put his hands together, vanishing in a puff of violet smoke.

"Skree?" The textoth were confused at how he had just disappeared so suddenly. Lori and Lynn meanwhile were just enjoying the show. Lynn morphed back to normal, taking her black star out, she knew her boyfriend could handle this. His new fused suit had given a grand boost of energy, and seemingly further enhanced reflexes.

"You idiots! He's on your weapon!" Xerector called out. Lincoln was just crouched on one of the jagged scimitars that the skeletal warrior carried over his shoulder. Upon being called out, Lincoln grabbed the textoth by the head, jumping back slamming their head into the road, caving in their skull, before he quickly stood up.

"Reel Claw!" Guardian Violet fired the front part of his guardian gauntlet which was attached to a rope, which wrapped around the blade of another textoth's bone axe. He stole its weapon and began to spin rapidly, swinging the bone axe on the rope and mowing down all of the textoth instantly. Each blow exploded instantly into electrical smoke, leaving nothing but a pile of bodies that began to turn to dust.

"That's them dealt with," Lincoln smiled while his guardian gauntlet retracted back to normal. He turned to the terrified Xerector, who had nothing left in his arsenal. It was the end of the line for him. Lincoln aimed his gauntlet covered arm toward the Xeran Elite, watching red and blue essence begin spiraling up his arm into it, filling the two contained stars.

"Guardian Finisher! Replication Technique! Engage!" Lincoln fired both stars from his guardian gauntlet toward Xerector. He put up his guard instinctively, but the two stars missed. When they got around his sides, the two stars turned into clones of Lincoln, one blazing bright red and the other glowing light blue. The original stood in front of the Xeran Elite.

"Hurk-!" Xerector felt his sides get stabbed simultaneously by the two doppelgangers. Lincoln jumped up, swinging his claws downward and slashing the Xeran Elite from his head down his entire body, electrical smoke bleeding out of him.

"Let's finish it!" The three began to slice away rapidly, hacking and slashing at Xerector and tearing out pieces of his body. In only a second, the essence sphere of his heart went flying out of his body. While he was dazed and his internals exposed, Lincoln got beside his clones before they all stabbed forward, the two clones claws wrapping around Lincolns arm as they all struck simultaneously, instantly impaling the monster's chest with one combined jab.

"Augh… I guess this movie is… going straight to DVD…" Xerector spoke his last words, before he fell onto his back and exploded into oblivion. Lynn noticed that this time, the essence sphere looked normal and the monster was not reviving.

"Hah! No hiding for these shinobi! Good work, you two!" Lincoln high-fived the two clones, he watched them fade away. The two stars once floating in the air now clattered to the ground. Lincoln morphed back to normal, he picked up the red curve-tipped star and pocketed it, taking the three-tipped star and approaching his sisters with a bright smile on his face.

"Lincoln! That was so awesome!" Lynn hugged her brotherly boyfriend, and he happily returned the embrace, except he surprised her by planting a small kiss on her cheek. Lori took her star back, placing the essence sphere in Lincoln's hand in trade.

"And here you thought climbing around our homes vents was the closest thing you were going to get to being a ninja," Lori laughed. Their siblings always did that though. Their homes vents just often got used like that. It was how Lucy always surprised everyone, or that was the best guess they had.

"Good news is, that this monster isn't reviving… Bad news is, we all look like we got hit by a truck," Lynn claimed. They all were horribly beaten and bruised, one glance at one another proved how gruesome it appeared.

"Come on. We need to get home. It'll be dinner time soon," Lincoln sighed, tired and starving after spending the day fighting not one, but two Xeran Elites at once. The three of them all had been drained completely, and would need at least a day or two to recover to full health.

"What are we going to tell everyone though? There's no way we can cover this up, even if we get Lisa to bring me my makeup kit," Lori stated. There was no way that makeup was going to cover even a quarter of these injuries, so asking the child prodigy to sneak it to them was just a waste of time. The louds knew Lori was an excellent makeup artist as well, both her and Leni were great at taking care of themselves. Even if Lori had recently lost any care for wearing any beauty products. Lincoln already knew what to tell their family, he was not going to miss out on dinner again, that was for sure.

"Simple, we tell them that we got hit by a truck. Come on, I'm too hungry to wait around," Lincoln had that solved. The three began to walk home, while he stared at the essence sphere in his hand. His siblings had no position to argue.

"You two are the best..."


	61. Shocked

"He's finally going to be sitting at the adults table? This sounds like a prank I'd make," Luan spoke. The Loud house was abuzz with the normal afternoon activity. Everyone was doing their own thing while their parents were preparing a special dinner to celebrate the new chair at the adult table, which made the table have to be expanded another piece wide.

"Your father insisted. It's funny, I was kind of feeling like bringing this up with Lincoln too… But I guess he announced his maturity, first," Rita said, finding it slightly funny how coincidental this was. Lynn Sr. had no disagreement from anybody when discussing the allowance of Lincoln joining the grownup table. The Loud boy had tried before in the past to get a place at it, but his plans fell through.

"If you guys had been awake this morning, you'd be just as shocked as us if you heard him, he sounded like, completely different now… I'm glad they went out, though. We can prepare the surprise for him when they get back," Leni stated. It seemed like a good thing for their only brother to come back home to a nice big steak dinner with his whole family.

"Our little bro's really grown up a lot," Luna sounded slightly saddened. Every time one of her siblings got to join that grownups table, it made her feel like a mother that was witnessing those she helped raise growing up so fast was hard to believe.

"He's been hogging all the attention lately…" Lola murmured in bitter annoyance, not too appreciative of all the attention Lincoln had been taking. The spoiled Loud girl wondered if that was why he was so happy lately, because of the attention. At the moment Lana and Lisa in the garage, working on the E.T.D. The rest of the family had no idea what it was though, so they left the two alone to work in peace. Lana just listened to whatever orders Lisa gave, enjoying working on something that was so complex and high tech.

"Goo goo," Lily cooed in her highchair, playing with some of her toys. It was unknown what will happen to Royal Woods tomorrow. The people that did know of this upcoming arrival were unsure how to feel, but they were scared, the city had not even announced that the army was going to appear, but there would be an announcement after they arrived for certain.

"We're home!" Lincoln called out after the sound of the front door closing behind them. The family was very excited, and eager to see their only brother's reaction to his new seat at the adults' table.

"Welcome home, you thre-eeeeek!" Leni screamed in terror when she went to greet her three siblings, getting the rest of her family's attention.

"Leni, what's wrong?!… Oh gosh…" Luna froze. Lincoln, Lori and Lynn stood there, looking brutalized, cut and heavily bruised beyond belief. Their clothing thankfully hid the marks left by the bullets that had been fired at them. It was certainly an insane day, but they came out the winners, Lincoln and his two sisters anticipated this reaction, but he still had a bright smile still on his face.

"This is a horrible prank," Luan said, hoping this was a joke. Lola could not even say anything. She looked ready to faint.

"What happened to you three?! Rita! Call for an ambulance!" Mr. Loud told his stunned wife.

"Hey dad, calm down!" Lori spoke up, aware of how mortifying it must be to see their loved ones like this, "We don't need an ambulance. We've already been to the hospital."

"They said we're fine," Lynn added, just as they saw Lana and Lisa coming from the garage. Rita was not sure how to respond. The only one keeping calm in all of this was Lucy, but judging by her lack of desire to scare everybody, the three injured siblings had still shocked her.

"So what happened that the dark overlords could not protect you from?" Lucy broke the silence since no one knew what to say. Luan had gone back to the kitchen to make sure Lily was alright, since the screaming might have startled the baby Loud.

"We got hit by a truck. It was nothing, honest," Lincoln came out and said the lie with no hesitation. That smile on his face was not helping ease his family's surprise. He was explaining it to be like he had tried to save his sisters from getting hit by the vehicle, taking the majority of the blow himself along with them.

"What happened to the driver?" Rita wrapped her arms around her three kids, squishing them tightly with a relieved hug. It did not do much but make their injuries hurt worse.

"He just kept going. We told the cops and they said they'd get back to us," Lori answered. The lie that they got hit by a car seemed cruel, but it was better than saying they had been shot at for the last few hours. When the hug with their mother ended, Lincoln felt Lola and Lana hugging his legs.

"Please don't leave us again, Lincoln!" Lola begged. Both of the twins looked very upset.

"Every time you go out, you get hurt…" Lana sniffled while they looked up to their big brother, seeing his unchanging reassuring smile from this morning. He rubbed their heads. What they said was true. Every time he left the house, he was hurt, but he did not have a choice. Being a shut in would do no good, neither for school or saving the world.

"People needed help. I'm going to do everything I can to keep helping them out in these rough times. I'm just an unlucky horseshoe, but I'll be fine," Lincoln reassured, wanting the twins to not get upset.

"The nerve of some people! When they catch that driver, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind," Lynn Sr. Said. They had never seen their dad this worked up before. Normally he just was a little goofy and very calm by nature, but someone hurting his children and not even stopping to check if they were okay, was naturally rage inducing.

"I'm enthralled to see you all back in mostly stable condition," Lisa approached and hugged Lincoln. He picked up the child prodigy to let her give a better hug.

"Sorry for scaring you all," Lori pulled her cellphone away, having been texting Bobby a lot on the way home.

"Don't worry. We took care of each other," Lynn flexed, her brotherly boyfriend's smile not changing one bit.

"Well, um… How about we tell Lincoln the good news?" Leni suggested, wanting to try and cheer everybody.

"We shouldn't dwell on something that's already happened since everyone's safe, right dudes? No one can have a bad night when steaks involved, right?" Luna pushed for getting past this, and the smell of steak had made her very hungry. She was glad her brother was safe, but planned to lecture him about traffic safety later.

"I second that," Lucy nodded, unsure why her only brother's positive aura was dissipating the tension gradually.

"We third that!" Lola and Lana agreed.

"That sounds pretty good right now," Lori smiled.

"I feel like I'm wasting into nothing but bones, more and more every day, I swear," Lynn stated. All this exercise and fighting constantly made her famished, especially if she had to keep doing it past her body's limits.

"You guys go on. I'll be in there to hear the news in a second. I need to talk to Lisa, first," Lincoln said, aware that their father had a present for him, and a big one if nearly the entire family was involved. Everyone agreed and headed off to the dining room to get everything ready. Lincoln was going to enjoy today no matter what, now that the two Xeran Elites were defeated, he was actually looking forward to going to school tomorrow.

"Is something the matter?" Lisa asked while her older brother carried her into the garage. The child prodigy was worried that her only brother had lied to the family about being alright.

"Nope, everything's great. Xerain's not coming back, and the other Xeran Elite they had for some reason couldn't revive, soooo, I brought you a surprise," Lincoln presented the essence sphere to her. The child prodigy looked mesmerized and overjoyed to see it, taking it into her hands.

"Astounding! I was terrified that we would be unable to acquire any more hearts… however, with Lana's assistance, we converted the E.T.D into being able to absorb and burn out every ounce of essence, so Xeran Elites hopefully cannot revive," Lisa explained while being put down. She went to put the essence sphere safely away.

"That's great! Sorry about not being in contact… We got put in these weird alternate movie dimensions by a living projector. It messed up our communicators while we were in them," Lincoln knew he had worried Lisa when no one was able to respond to her. He could tell just by that upset look in her eyes, even if she tried her best to hide behind her straight face.

"I do have some excellent news to share, as well… Doctor Bruino Anderson is more than aware of my involvement with the Guardian Project now," Lisa explained. It appeared they had gotten another lucky break. Someone else could soon become a guardian, "Fifty years or so ago, his grandfather's farm had a meteor land in the barn, and they were smart enough to take all the material for themselves. Doctor Bruino did not hesitate to offer it to me, when I explained to him how things functioned and our desperate requirements for the material."

"Really?! Awesome! Ronnie Anne's gonna be a perfect guardian… We really need to thank Bruino somehow for this," Lincoln claimed. He and Lisa figured his ex-girlfriend was the next one up to be a guardian, and it made perfect sense. She fit every requirement. If they could work past any possible issues, then Lisa had no reason to protest.

"I'll think of a method to show our gratitude. I apologize, I'm starting to become like Lana. Seeing you go out constantly only to come back hurt is quite difficult to tolerate, dad…" Lisa froze up, looking to Lincoln to see his reaction. He still had that same smile on his face. He crouched down to her height.

"So you're going to start calling me 'dad' instead now?" Lincoln chuckled, finding it adorable.

"Err… apologies. It's just become a part of my vocabulary to refer to you as that now…" Lisa apologized. Lincoln remembered their talk from the other day where she explained how she had a poor relationship with their actual father. Lincoln was not going to judge or stop her at all for doing what she was doing.

"Don't worry about it, 'honey'. Come on, let's go see what this surprise is," Lincoln jokingly replied. Lisa smiled, since their private conversation was done. They had a way to deal with the improved Xeran Elites now, but they did have a bad feeling that it was not going to be as simple as just stealing the essence from them.

"Sorry for the hold up! …hey, where's my chair?" Lincoln questioned. He had gone to take his seat at the children's table, but his chair was gone. Everyone had a distinct mark on their chair from how much they used it themselves.

"That's the surprise, son. You said it yourself this morning that you were growing up, so I thought it was about time we move you to the adults table," Mr. Loud showed his son the new seat placement beside Lori and Lynn. Guardian Red was shocked to the core, but appealed. His family looked glad to see that bright smile on his face only get brighter with each passing day itself. Lincoln could only think of one sentence in his head.

 **"These are the kind of moments I fight for..."**


	62. Slumber

"Your majesty. How are you feeling?"

BelGaner had entered the throne room. Teronzata was sat nearby, sharpening his blade. Zeggfor was off in the training room, taking out his personal overbuilt rage. Mirayu was in the medical bay, being treated while ranting about Guardian Black ruining her beautiful natural face, as well as some profanity about Guardian Red. The Xeran leader coughed and shook his head.

"I believe slumber is the only option left for me… How long it may last is unknown, but I fear I don't have a choice…" The majesty needed time to get better. Going into one war immediately after the other was draining his life away.

"Your majesty… we'll need an alternate means to acquire Xeran Elites. I don't know how, but I believe I can make us an excellent trio of troops that could aid us, but it would take time and effort. I'm worried the guardians would not hesitate to launch an attack to wipe out our entire race during your slumber, if they realize we've pulled back even the slightest amount of our power." BelGaner explained. The Xeran Elites were not safe in their own eldritch dimension even, though they had created it. The fear of the guardians finding a way to access it was something on all of their minds constantly.

"And there is a significant request you want me to fulfill in order to make these troops…?" The majesty stared at the general of strategy, "What is it?"

BelGaner took a deep breath. "I need ten of your hearts, your majesty."

"What?! Ten?! That will kill him for certain, BelGaner! As the general of defense and best swordsman in the world, I cannot permit you to take the majesty's life like this!" Teronzata stepped up, ready to fight his friend if he had to. The majesty raised his hand, motioning the living plant swordsman to lower his guard.

"I shall grant this BelGaner out of trust, but I will not be able to resist the slumber anymore once these are made," the majesty agreed tiredly, taking in one breath after another. The ruler of the Xeran race began to create one heart after another, each one filled with his own dark purple essence. Teronzata could not watch this. The general of defense left the throne room, walking past the bone piles.

"What is BelGaner doing? Has he become treacherous? No… the only one I should be concerned about attempting to assassinate the majesty, is Zeggfor…" Teronzata was thinking to himself as he wandered the castle, his boots clacking against the stone tiles beneath his feet, passing by the odd textoth who were going around cleaning.

Teronzata had gone to the lower levels of the castle where things were ominous and dark. Chains clanked and clattered, the rats scurried around, as Teronzata wandered the dark underground area of the castle, which was only illuminated by torches, the bright and crackling flames defying the darkness.

"'Ey… did you come to feed me?" A slurred voice spoke. Teronzata took his top hat off, as he looked to one of the sets of prison cells at the end. Inside of it, a monstrous man standing behind the bars. He appeared about as normal as any other Xeran Elite, but like many trapped in these prisons, there was a special difference about him.

"No, my former apprentice. I came seeking advice," the general of defense spoke to the skinny and withered man with messy black hair. His bones were visible in his shirtless torso, he was also missing half of his lower jaw after a violent struggle. His body's natural recovery did him no good.

"I told you before. I didn't help that traitorous textoth… But 'Master' Teronzata, I know that only the textoth come to feed us and make sure we don't die down here. So what is it you want? What could the most arrogant general want from Shedun, the formerly invincible shield master?" Shedun retorted. Once a monster of his own regards, he was Teronzata's last apprentice. When his defense was pierced, then it led to his facial disfigured appearance. The majesty suspected him of treachery, he had given him the wound when he was suspected of aiding a traitor.

"The majesty's falling into his slumber. I came to offer you prisoners a chance at redemption to get back your freedom. There are only four generals, and without the majesty, things will fall into a democratic voting system…" Teronzata sighed at the problem that may arise, and why he needed Shedun's help.

"As the greatest swordsman in the world, as much as I wish my vote was worth two, I know we will always have draws. Therefore, we need a fifth general. We need a new general to break the ties and decide plans. The textoth are too simple minded to be relied on for voting."

Shedun looked at his former master. "You want to turn this into a game? You want all the monsters within these cells to be given a chance, with me as the fifth general, to just aid in deciding who goes to fight our new 'great battle?'"

"Yes... I'm not proud of this either. I have no memory left of my past life for a reason, one day I might get it back, but I know our history well, despite how splotchy it is at points. BelGaner is working on something big as well. We, as the four great generals, proved our worth in one grand way or another. Aiding us in beating the guardians is your grand chance," Teronzata reached over to a diamond shield, a beautiful crystalline item that had been dangling on the wall nearby amongst other weapons. "What do you say to the greatest swordsman in the worlds offer?"

Shedun looked at his reflection in the shield. He reached his skinny arms out, as he took the shield, pulling it between the bars and sliding it onto his arm. Teronzata stepped aside as the bars of the prison cell exploded off, and the dust and dirt got sent flying everywhere. Out stepped a monster in bright silver gear, like a special living suit of knight armor, but the front mouth guard was half missing, replaced with a row of sharp teeth in its place, his helmet having several dozen small horns. Shedun had the diamond shield on the side of his arm, the item back in his possession and having returned him back into his Xeran form. His bright yellow eyes brightly pierced the darkness of his helmet, as it cleared.

"I'll take this as a yes," Teronzata flashed a sinister grin. It seemed to him that a new general had arrived, or at least a hopefully soon to become general.

* * *

"Well that was a fast class…" Lincoln walked beside Chandler, the two going down the hallway after they had both left English class. School felt like it was going by much faster.

"I don't know what you mean, man. That felt slower than ever to me… So uh, are you okay?" Chandler asked. Seeing him gravely injured with Lynn scared everyone a lot, so much so that it made no one want to go messing with them.

"Better than ever… Well, I am tired, but I'll just go to bed sooner tonight," Lincoln answered with a smile. It was only a matter of time before the military arrived today, he still was trying to be optimistic. He noticed Ronnie Anne and Clyde coming to meet up with him.

"Get better soon, man. I'll see you later," Chandler told him before he went off to get to his locker.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Lincoln greeted his friends, feeling glad to see them both, especially after the day he was tasked against yesterday.

"Hey Lame-o," Ronnie Anne was just surprised by how relaxed her ex-boyfriend was being around her, considering their confrontation they had the other day.

"Jeez, Lincoln… Are you okay?" Clyde quirked, not able to help but cringe whenever he looked at his battered friend.

"I told you this morning, I'm better than ever… I mean, it hurts to breathe, but that's beside the point," Lincoln felt a little annoyed. He did not mind people asking about it, but the same person asking about it repeatedly was a different matter.

"How are things at home? I still can't believe you told your family you all got hit by a truck…" Ronnie Anne questioned while the three were alone to talk quietly amongst themselves, while everyone else was more invested in getting to their next class. It seemed cruel to Ronnie Anne to lie like that, no matter how horrible the truth was in trade.

"I'm now sitting at the adults table, and Lisa is calling me dad, so… Things are weird and crazy, so pretty normal, but I love it all," Guardian Red answered, glad they at least knew his secret, so he did not have to go lying to them and beating around the bush.

"Wait, Lisa's doing what?" Ronnie Anne held her head with one hand.

"It's a long story… She'll be starting on your guardian suit soon, Ronnie Anne, so look forward to that. We don't know how long it'll take to finish, though. We have to wait for the Gruynithil to arrive," Lincoln explained. Doctor Bruino said he was sending it, but it would most likely take a few days to arrive. Though that was unless the military was planning on checking all mailing packages, thankfully they had no reason to.

"Good. I can't wait to go beating up those Xeran guys," Ronnie Anne grinned from hearing that. Lincoln wanted to remind her that their priority was protecting lives to the best of their ability, and then confronting the Xeran to ward off the threat they sent. She probably already knew this, and he did not want to become too preachy.

"I guess I'm not up at getting a chance to become a guardian?" Clyde guessed.

"Sorry, Clyde, but… You're better off keeping your ears and eyes open to let us know when things happen, instead of going out and fighting," Lincoln nodded, rubbing his neck. No matter how else he worded it, he felt he was insulting his friend for lacking combat prowess. Ronnie Anne, Lisa, Lori and Lynn would shoot down his volunteer offer, when their strength was compared.

"It's okay, dude, I understand… In hindsight, my parents would probably kill me if they saw me hurt badly," Clyde nodded. The conversation between the three close friends was cut short, however, when the sound of the school speakers beamed from the intercom.

"Attention all students and staff, as well as anyone on campus, please gather in the gymnasium for an important announcement, we apologize for the suddenness of this it will not take much time we promise," the principal spoke over the intercoms. The trio looked between one another.

"Oh yeah, this is going to be good…" Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

"I'm scared to go… The Xeran have made me paranoid of everything now," Clyde claimed. He was even too afraid to take a sip of water from the school fountains. Lincoln could not blame him. The Xeran had a million abilities and the craziest of plans. He decided they must go now. Lynn would meet them there.

"Let's just go see what's going on, relax. Going in expecting the worst won't get anything done."


	63. How One Copes

Nearly the entire middle school had come to the gymnasium, just as the principal had ordered over the intercom. Things were certainly confusing. Students and adults alike were talking amongst each other, trying to figure out what was going on. Lincoln and his small group of friends were just off to the side of the stage.

"The principal looks so depressed," Clyde pointed out what everyone noticed. Lincoln stood with his arm wrapped around Lynn's side. It was not something he was consciously doing either, but his sisterly girlfriend did not care.

"I haven't seen his son lately. He's on the football team with me, but he's missed out on two practices," Lynn claimed. The principal's son, Fletcher Smith, was a great linebacker. Without him, things felt lonelier for the team. Nobody else was good enough to fill in for linebacker but him. Lynn had just assumed that Fletcher was home sick.

"I think he's ready to speak," Lincoln sighed in relief.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Ronnie Anne looked at the stage before them, as the principal cleared his throat and took the microphone from the stand.

"Attention, students. I apologize once again for forcing you all here and making you miss your next class. Any tests or assignments for said missed classes will be delayed. I love the students of this school. There barely are any bad apples amongst any of you, and I'm proud to be running the school while you're all here until you graduate and move on," the principal began. Everyone could tell that this was going to be a bit of a lengthy speech, but the middle aged man looked ready to break down crying. "I just wanted to say that before moving onto the reason for this assembly… The state of Michigan now has military presence, centrally Royal Woods, due to this Xeran activity happening primarily here."

"There they come, then…" Lynn rubbed her temple.

"I'm not surprised, either," Lincoln mumbled. He and Lynn knew it was only a matter of time before the military arrived today, but why it was so upsetting to the principal was the confusing part.

"We want you all to know that there is a curfew in progress. Anyone out at night past nine o'clock without an adult or guardian, will either be detained until a parent or guardian can pick you up, or said officer detaining you can take you back to your home, if they are fine with doing so," the principal continued. Already several looked annoyed with the announcement of a curfew, but a majority of the students were unaffected. Most of them had no reason to be out past eight in the evening, unless it was the weekend.

"A curfew? Aw, man…" Clyde sighed in disappointment, but guessed this was bound to happen.

"Still, nothing surprising yet… Though I don't think they mean the type of guardians we're thinking of," Lincoln joked, laughing lightly and gaining some laughs from his friends. Lynn was just glad to see him happy. It was always a reassuring joy to see that bright smile on his face.

"Y'know, he's kinda not done yet," Ronnie Anne redirected their attention back to the principal. There was bad news to this. They were just getting through the common knowledge for the basic rules.

"And now students, I would like to apologize and request a moment of silence… In the last few days, several students had their lives ended shortly, due to… Due to them being attacked by the masked figures that work with the Xeran," the principal referred to the textoth. It still was not common knowledge that behind those spooky masks was nothing but bones.

"Rowan Boedy… Ryan Pope… Dac Damson… Fletcher Smith… They all tragically passed when their hearts stopped beating and they were not able to be revived… that is all, students. You can return to your activities. Thank you for attending."

The principal put the microphone back, turned away and did not hesitate leaving the stage and the gym. As Lincoln could tell, everyone was just as stunned as him, his cohorts were already mourning their friends and fellow schoolmates. Lynn looked shaken from knowing that Fletcher, a teammate on one of her sports teams and a decent friend, was dead.

"Lincoln?" Ronnie Anne noticed him head off the same direction the principal went. The Santiago girl decided to follow, leaving the rest behind. If this involved the Xeran and she was going to be a guardian, she was going to have to start getting involved eventually.

* * *

"Lincoln what are you doing?" She caught up to him, but he did not stop walking. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty halls each time they touched the tiled floor, the emptiness was a little off putting.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to talk to the principal," Lincoln replied as they arrived to the principal's office, but one look through the small glass window on the door showed that he was not inside. He had gone elsewhere.

"Talk to him about what? His son got murdered and he had to announce it on stage, in front of everybody along with the other students, instead of mourning and telling everyone when he was up to it," Ronnie Anne knew death was becoming sadly common, and Lincoln knew, too. It made people become numb to the concept of it. They were being exposed to it so often that the only way death bothered them was if they were the ones dying, or if their loved ones had passed.

"That's what I need to talk to him about. Me, Lori and Lynn killed everything the Xeran sent out yesterday for us… I'm wondering why textoth were running around freely without any real orders," Lincoln explained. If Fletcher and these other students were randomly murdered the same night during Xerain's first rampage, things were going to get litigious. All of the students of this school lived hours away from the apartment complex that had gotten attacked days ago.

"Lincoln! They're just stupid skeletons! What happens if you don't tell something stupid what to do? They do something stupid," the Santiago girl grabbed his wrist and stopped him. They had found the principal seated outside at the back of the school on the steps, his face buried into his hands.

"Or they do something stupid while doing what they're told to do," the Loud boy retorted. His ex-girlfriend found it disturbing how he still had a slight smile on his face, even if it was only a small one. How he could be happy at a time like this was beyond her.

"There's no point in going out there. All you're going to do is make that man more upset. You know he has nobody else in his life," Ronnie Anne insisted. The principal was very open about his life. He did not have many loved ones left. Those who remained alive were living in other countries. He had adopted Fletcher, and his sudden departure from this life was clearly devastating.

"I'll find out where it happened, and then I can go and try to handle this… Is there something you're trying to tell me, or do you just miss holding my hand?" Lincoln jokingly replied. Ronnie Anne let go of his wrist in frustration, wishing he would take this more seriously. He certainly was taking this as serious as any other Xeran matter, but he did not show it externally.

"What kind of sick idiot are you?! How can you be happy right now? How can you just smile and joke around after hearing about the deaths of fellow students?!" She looked almost ready to strangle him if it meant getting him away from the principal. She was becoming offended by the way Lincoln was behaving. The principal was great and very interactive with his students and teachers alike. She didn't know what would stop the man emotionally heal, beyond time, certainly talking about it was not going to help.

"What he's doing out there is how he chose to work through his pain. He chose to work through the feeling of failure and guilt by crying. I have to work through my own regret and guilt somehow, and I chose to do it through the happiness I get from saving lives," Lincoln retorted. There was nothing wrong with a disagreement, but it was wasting the time he needed. In case those very skeleton monsters were out there, right now doing the same thing to more innocent people.

"It's taken a lot to get through my own problems. Lisa helped with that by opening my eyes… I don't care if you're going to be the fourth guardian or not. I need to look into everything that could be related to the Xeran, then stomp it out. People's feelings come second, their lives come first."

"…fine…" Ronnie Anne gave in, having a major headache from arguing with her ex, "But when this turns up nothing and you go around chasing imaginary skeleton monsters from another dimension, I'll be there to say I told you so."

"Pfffahah… Ronnie Anne, you're getting good at comedy… but don't worry. My instincts haven't been wrong so far," Lincoln smirked at her comment and continued outside to talk to the principal. Ronnie Anne could only shake her head as she looked at him. She walked away, brushing some of her black hair out of her face, wanting to let Lynn know what Guardian Red was up to.

"Why do I hate it when you win, Lame-o…?"


	64. Prototype

Lisa was seated in the living room, working away on her laptop. The Loud house was next to empty. Everyone either was at school, or off doing their own personal things around town. The Loud parents were at work having enjoyed the weekend with their family, aside from the shock with the lie their family members gave them. Only the various pets were there to keep Lisa company.

"I do enjoy weekdays for giving me the opportunity to work outside of the garage," Lisa hummed. Charles had his head resting in her lap while she continued her work, creating the plans for the fourth guardian suit. Knowing the exact amount of Gruynithil they would have to work with, she was going to have to improvise a weapon for this guardian suit, just like she had done for Lynn's.

"Hm?" The young girl adjusted her glasses while looking up at the slightly quiet television, that she only had playing the news for the sake of it. Since she had a PhD before she was even seven years old, it meant no school, since she had blown through it all at such a fast rate, but it left Lisa with a lot of free time which was becoming more allotted as of late.

"It appears the army has arrived…" Lisa sighed as she turned up the television volume. On screen was a man in a suit outside of city hall, where a giant group of citizens were gathered, and several army men were stationed acting as guards.

"Here I am, standing outside of city hall. The military has suddenly appeared in Michigan. As much as people want to say this is surprising, it really isn't," the reporter explained over the sound of the bustling crowd behind him, before continuing.

"The Xeran have been in Royal Woods for a month now, and already nearly two hundred people have been murdered, and dozens more injured. We're here, live, to listen to the leader of this army unit's speech, and his plan."

"I can't wait to see which fool of a general they've sent to obscure our work…" Lisa bitterly shook her head, watching as the doors of the city hall opened and a few more soldiers began to walk outside. Shortly following after the small group of guards, was their leader. "…What?"

The general was an older man in his early fifties. He had augmentations in his body, the most noteworthy being the small cylinder on his back that was connected to a bunch of wires running into his arms and legs. The child prodigy was stunned, only because she recognized that very work that belonged to Vernan.

"Good evening Royal Woods. I am General Eugene Redact. I've served in our countries army for the last thirty-two years of my life," Eugene introduced himself, his voice scratchy and strained. He was a high ranking general in the military with a lot of personal experience both on and off the battlefield. Unfortunately his last engagement on the battlefield ended in this half augmented form he now possessed.

"Now, I want you to know the army is not here to run your lives. We aren't here to do anything beyond killing, capturing, or defeating those ugly alien things," Eugene began. Lisa always got annoyed whenever someone referred to the Xeran as alien, when they were just beings from another dimension. There was no way to know if they really were aliens, not without performing autopsies on the deceased Xeran. Which was impossible, due to the explosive natures their bodies withheld, with her best scientific guess, she honestly assumed some of the Xeran might be of alien descent.

"You've already all heard about the curfew law in place, but that's it. Report any unusual activity to local authorities, and it will come to me fast for judgment if it's Xeran related… I will now be accepting questions from the audience."

"General Eugene! Sir! What are your thoughts on the guardians?" One journalist requested. When the general was about to answer his opinion on those heroes, Lisa turned up the television volume for this, being interested as well.

"My thoughts on the guardians? I don't have much. It's cut and dry. They've been doing our job for us while we had no clue it was going on, until one of our own fellow bases was destroyed! Everyone in my command, me included, should be on our hands and knees begging all of Royal Woods for forgiveness! So to the guardians, since I know you're watching from somewhere, thank you all for your hard efforts…" General Eugene however, looked depressed at imagining that only because of the odd skeptical news reports, they were the primary reason why a majority of the world knew about the situation in Royal Woods. He sounded more as though the entire country was apologizing to Michigan for ignoring this problem, until those fellow soldiers were murdered. It made the military look selfish, to an extent.

"I did not anticipate this type of general… Especially with Vernan's spinal nerve motor function device," Lisa scratched her head. That was Vernan's most praised invention. It was far too expensive to make at a large scale, but the item the general had attached to his body was designed to give the people that received irreversible spinal or nerve damage, restoration of somewhat normality. If the device was turned off damaged or removed, the wearer would lose that granted movement and return to their crippled state.

"Eugene! Has the president made any comments about this situation?"

"General! How far do you think this is going to escalate?"

"Is this the world's first actual extra-terrestrial war?"

Multiple reporters began to speak up with a dozen questions at once, before one of the soldiers beside the general pulled out an air horn, letting its loud, blaring noise silence the reporters and journalists talking over one another.

"Thanks, Billy… To answer your questions in order; One, I have not received word from anyone high up on the chain of command past my own superiors. Two, I have no idea. And three, it appears that way," General Eugene answered all three inquiries at once. He looked rather relaxed, all things considered, despite the more than terrifying environment that Royal Woods had subtlety fell into.

"However, I had a great friend who unfortunately expired early on, just before the Xeran attempted invasion… We may have only a prototype of what he left for us, and frankly, it was not easy to get working but… Allow me all to introduce you to the top-picked soldier, one who will be able to help take the front line against these monsters."

General Eugene stepped off to the side, to reveal something shocking to Lisa herself.

"What?! Impossible!" Lisa stood up in surprise, Charles looking disappointed to no longer be receiving his petting. On television, someone else stepped out of city hall, their black boots touching down the steps.

"This is Ben… or as you may now refer to him… Guardian White!" Eugene declared as there stood a person in a white guardian suit with very dark black gloves and boots. The white suit had golden colored curved stripes going over both shoulders, and down to the belt that had the military logo on it. The helmet had a smooth, alien design to it, with a crescent black visor. An extraordinary gun hung off of his side, that had a small sharp blade on the lower front of the barrel. This weapon was not meant to fire bullets, but the holster was making it impossible for Lisa's eyes to judge how technically advanced it was.

"H…how? Vernan never mentioned a prototype suit," Lisa muttered in fear while the crowd cheering sounded from the television. The child prodigy did not know what to do. She could feel a million worries and questions coming into her head, Lisa had never suffered a panic attack before, but she was certainly able to judge the start of one. The general went onto talking about how he wanted a meeting of all the great minds from Michigan tomorrow night, while Lisa was trying to calm herself.

* * *

Sounds of broken objects rung out in another part of Royal Woods, outside of one closed building. People were wondering what was going on, until one of the windows exploded, as a textoth came flying out, crashing into the asphalt with its head crushed halfway.

"Well, that's that dealt with," Lincoln and Lynn stood inside the dusty building, a lot of the items destroyed, and a dozen or so textoth disintegrating into dust.

"More people dead… All because a few textoth got lost from their big group…" Lynn sighed, holding her head, unable to help but feel responsible for the death of her football teammate and other schoolmates. They had not killed every textoth in each battle, as several decided to try and make up for their wasted time by secretly gathering essence off of any victims they could find. Middle school students traveling alone were the perfect targets sadly.

"Come on, Lynn. I'm not going to let you wind up like I did the other night," Lincoln stated while they left through the back exit. They had barely broke a sweat in there. He and the principal had conversed like he intended to, he told him about his son, who went to go study at a friend's and never came home. The guardians only had to check along the way for clues and soon enough found the skeleton monsters.

Lincoln was glad the principal was able to talk things out with him, the white haired boy barely had to pry into the matter. Which was good, Lincoln did not enjoy the thought of having to be aggressive in forcing matters to go the way he wanted them to go. Either way, the dead were dead and revenge had been given.

"I know, Linc… I mean, I know you're right. It's just gonna take me a while to get past it…" Lynn responded as they left and made their way back onto the streets. They had already gotten the situation handled, only an hour after they left school.

"Well, how about we make tonight better than last night… let's say, a date?" Lincoln offered his sisterly girlfriend as they arrived to a crosswalk.

"What'd you have in mind?" Lynn replied, with a small smile on her. His effort at cheering her up was reassuring enough, along with his still going smile.

"Batting cages sound good?" Lincoln suggested. His girlfriend could only nod her head in agreement.

"You know me too well, Lincoln," Lynn held his hand, and the two continued on their way.

"I'd be a bad boyfriend if I didn't, right?" Lincoln joked over the issue of their relationship that they had long gotten over in their own personal regards. The two headed off to just try and enjoy the rest of today, since aside from the textoth, there appeared to be no other Xeran activity.

"Strange, though…" Lincoln mentally rung out. "Why do I feel like someone just swore me to be their nemesis again?"


	65. General Of The Prison

**Authors Note: I want to apologize dear viewers, this chapter I rewrote 8 times because I was never happy with it. And I apologize for its length, I just could not continue it past the ending because anywhere after that would not have been as strong a note to end on. My apologies. I also want to thank you all for the 400 reviews, I am glad that you have been enjoying this story. It makes me happy to know, either way take care and enjoy! Good luck to everyone on their finals as well.**

"So he finally succumbed to slumber…" Mirayu murmured. She and Zeggfor stood before the comatose majesty lying back in his throne. The Xeran leader was unresponsive to their attempts to awaken him, his eyes remained shut. Now there were a dozen textoth guarding the majesty while he slept.

"It was after BelGaner took ten hearts from him, we can only hope that whatever he has planned goes well and wish for the majesty's quick recovery," Zeggfor claimed while rubbing his sore head, things were looking very bleak at the moment. The fact they had to put their hopes into one mechanical loner that no one knew much about, beyond his exceeding ability with strategic planning, made the general of offense more than angry.

"I, the greatest swordsman in the world, have returned, comrades, with aid for us!" Teronzata entered into the throne room, Shedun following alongside him. When the other two generals looked back, they both were stunned to see the diamond shield wielding monster out of his cell.

"What the…?! Textoth!" Zeggfor roared, his voice booming throughout the castle. Only after a few seconds hundreds of textoth began to storm into the throne room, surrounding the suspected traitor. The general of defense did not even realize how many skeleton warriors they had created until now.

"My word! Ease up, my fellow generals! Shedun is here to help," Teronzata gently moved aside one of the many jagged scimitars aimed at him and the half-jawed monster.

"Help? Did you forget why he was imprisoned?! Oh, the majesty would be infuriated if he could see this right now," Mirayu claimed, her mask looking saddened and scared.

"Oh, Mirayu… The years have been not so kind to you… Did stress finally get your hair? And those are some fine, big crow's feet, too," Shedun slurred before laughing, watching the general of emotions immediately begin to turn angry as she approached with her bones cracking.

"Those… guardians… ruined meeeeeeeeee!" Mirayu fell onto her knees and sobbed, covering her burnt face with her hands. Her original hair had all been singed off. The guardians had stolen her beauty as far as she cared.

"What is happening?" BelGaner spoke up, catching everyone's attention. One motion and all the textoth began to return to their duties. If Shedun tried to cause any trouble, the four majesty's generals could handle it. Teronzata did not hesitate to begin telling them in thorough detail as to what was occurring.

* * *

"So this traitor was freed, all because we need tie breakers for our votes? That is so asinine!" Zeggfor shook his head at the logic behind all of this. Mirayu was not in any position to argue with how upset she was.

"But we need help! We all know we never can agree on something! It doesn't take the greatest swordsman in the world to tell you that! But as this said swordsman, I will gladly inform you of it, anyway," Teronzata stood firm while Shedun stayed idle, looking at the majesty. He felt just as tired as the Xeran leader at this time around.

"Teronzata is correct," BelGaner took his dear friend's side, "We need Xeran Elites, and those prisoners can earn their chance at redemption and freedom simultaneously, this is the most logical course we can take."

"Your opinion is biased! What did you even do with those ten hearts you received?!" The general of offense did not take this any lighter. He was just getting angry imagining those ten hearts being stolen, and just wasted instead of made into Xeran Elites.

"I'm creating the very trio of creatures that will help us best the guardians… Mirayu's efforts of spying will not be in vain. Those recordings capture the guardians quite well. Every last detail about them. I just wish that the red star had not destroyed one of his three film reels," BelGaner explained. Shedun seemed to peak his ears when hearing about the ten hearts being taken. He approached the robot general, his diamond shield securely attached to his arm.

"There's a reason why the majesty was afraid of using more than one of his hearts at a time when creating our brothers and sisters. When fools believe they have power, they like to become traitorous… Creating three creatures with those hearts will be a large risk," Shedun warned them to the best of his slurred ability. If BelGaner was really going to use all ten hearts, it meant that one of the three creatures was going to receive four hearts, and the other two would receive three of them. It was guaranteed strength, brutal elite power. But with that many hearts, they would be unknown in terms of their personality. Becoming traitorous was a large risk at play as well.

"Risks must be taken, Shedun. Meanwhile, since we have no choice but to accept you as a general temporarily, you shall be the General of the Prison. Go and choose the first Xeran Elite to get the chance to redeem themselves," BelGaner instructed. The diamond shield clad Xeran Elite nodded, willing to achieve the title as permanent general, if he did a successful job.

"How long will it take to create these creatures? And why is the footage of the guardians so vital for this?" Mirayu sat nearby, trying to get over her unstable emotional status. She was easy to get worked up now.

"It will take a few days to complete, but I implore you for once in your existence keep a calm mind about things. Until the majesty awakens we operate as normal… We do not send any more than one general out at a time, and we must cast a vote for each use of essence," the general of strategy declared. It was not like he was playing the position of leader. Zeggfor knew he was just stating the rules that were placed in case of the majesty falling into his slumber.

"I look forward to seeing these specimens. Perhaps they can rival even the greatest swordsman in the world," Teronzata chuckled while the generals scattered. All they could do now was wait for the general of the prison to choose the first Xeran Elite, and wisely.

* * *

Shedun roamed the prison in the lowest level of the castle with a torch in hand, looking around at all the various imprisoned monsters, they were just like him. They remained human, just waiting to come into contact with their special item to return to their Xeran form.

"Listen up, my former fellow inmates! This is your chance at redemption for freedom! We need someone who can make sure, that the world and the guardians do not forget us during our absence… The majesty is asleep. We need a few days worth of time bought... So, which of you are the most annoying and distracting?" Shedun explained, his slurred voice echoing. Instantly everybody was sticking their arms out past the bars, shouting for them to be picked.

"Ah… you." The diamond shield wielding monster chuckled to a familiar Xeran, recognizing him as the one that had been thrown in this prison the day before him, due to accusations of defamation of the majesty's great name. Which came from seemingly nowhere, with minimal logic behind the decision.

"Sh-shedun, you know what I can do. You've seen me do it a million times…" The bald man pleaded, with a pair of half broken glasses on his face.

"Xerarian… I think you're just perfect for this task," Shedun pulled out a large set of keys that had been at the entrance of the prison, before he unlocked the cell. The prison bars opened wide, and Xerarian nervously stepped out. The general of the prison presented a thick, large red hard covered book to the man.

"Oh, how I missed you…" Xerarian smiled, grabbing the book. When it was in his hands, he began to grow slightly, changing into a weird Xeran Elite that still looked mostly humanoid, his glasses now fixed and hanging by a chain around his neck. He now had a robe entirely made from open books, his large one being held under his arm.

"I know your specialty is being annoying and distracting. Don't let us down, because if you do, you will not be going back to that prison," Shedun sneered. The Xeran Elite nodded, pulling his glasses up over his glowing green eyes.

"You leave it to me! I already know how to deal with those guardians and to let everyone know of the Xeran's greatness!" Xerarian ran off to get out of the prison and prepare his plan. Shedun shook his head, sighing.

"I hope he can buy us that time…" Shedun knew that Xerarian was never meant to be a Xeran Elite. In another dimension he had just been a regular librarian, loving his job. During the attack however, the poor man out of desperation, tried absorbing essence from a fallen Xeran Elites essence sphere. Becoming one of the very things that had slaughtered that entire dimension's populace, was how he survived the war.

"This is going to be an interesting job for me..."


	66. Panic attack

"Lisa! I'm home," Lori called out as she entered back into her home with Lily in her arms. Guardian Blue had been out on a date with Bobby while she watched Lily. The Santiago boy was great with the baby Loud, he was just at the point where he was thankful that his girlfriend was around. She knew it was only a matter of time before he began to make inquiries. For now, she would enjoy not having to worry about having another person to lie to.

"Lisa?" Lori quirked, wondering if her second youngest sibling had gone out like the rest of the family today, or if she was so absorbed into her work again that she could not hear anything beyond her tools.

"Goo goo," Lily yawned, her pacifier still in her mouth, tired and wanting to get a nice long nap now that they were home again. Being around Lori and her boyfriend was exhausting. No matter how little she was involved.

"Here, Lily. I'm going to find Lisa. You close your eyes and have a good nap," Lori smiled while resting Lily down on the couch, letting the baby girl get the so desired rest. Lori went off afterwards to try and find Lisa, to see if she was home or not.

"If she went out, I wish she had texted me about it," Lori muttered, hating to be worried about the second youngest Loud like this. The world was still somewhat dangerous out there, even before the Xeran arrived.

The oldest Loud's search led her to the younger children's room. No one was there, either. It was just a messy room like it always was. Lori went back down the hallway, but she stopped after she reached Lincoln's bedroom door, where she heard a rattled breathing.

"Lisa?" Lori found Lisa sitting on the Lincoln's bed, shaking and holding his precious stuffed toy Bun-Bun close to her chest. The child prodigy had come in here to try and calm down when nothing else had helped with her panic attack.

"Are you okay, Lisa? You look like you've seen a ghost," Lori worriedly approached, rubbing her sister's back. Lisa hugged her oldest sister, tight. The short blonde haired girl was still not used to seeing the normally straight-faced child act so emotional lately.

"I'm… I'm scared, Lori… the military is here, but they brought something with them…" Lisa stated while Lori held her, letting her stay in her arms. The oldest Loud could feel her little sister's entire body trembling with fear.

"Me and Bobby heard the army had come, but that's about it… What happened? Did they say they were going to incarcerate us just for being guardians?" Lori doubted Lincoln would mind Lisa having Bun-Bun for the time being. That precious family hand-me-down helped so many Louds growing up, that it was only natural for Lisa to go to it for comfort, even if it was not rightfully hers.

"N-no… General Eugene wants a conference with all the great scientists of Michigan tomorrow night," Lisa shivered, "He praised us for our deeds, but Vernan apparently had made a prototype guardian suit… There's a fourth guardian in Royal Woods now."

"The military brought a guardian with them? I can't believe this…! If this new guardian ends up getting in our way…" Lori sighed. It was frustrating to know that this fourth guardian might be trying to meddle in their affairs. She wanted to know what Lincoln thought about it, since he had talked at length before about his curiosity of meeting this top picked soldier.

"Look, don't worry so much. We'll be fine… The stress really is getting to you, isn't it?" Lori commented. Lisa was not even attempting to hide how badly all the pressure she was enduring was bothering her. She was the core of the guardian project, while everyone else was the essence in the core.

"I will not confirm or deny that theory… But yes," Lisa murmured as she was put down on the couch beside the slumbering Lily. The smart child felt a lot better already by the presence of a family member being home. "Wh… Where's dad?"

"Dad? He's at work. You know he doesn't get off for another…" Lori started to answer while she turned off the television. The news was just talking about unrelated topics, which could wake Lily if unattended. She corrected herself though with a realization.

"Ohh… you mean Lincoln, right?"

"Yes…" Lisa sheepishly nodded. Lori wondered how that relationship got forged, but she did not mind it. It was just abnormal for her to refer to the only boy in the family like that.

"He's on a date with Lynn," Guardian Blue answered, "They texted me saying they'll be home later."

"Oh… I get it now," Lisa nodded slowly in understanding.

"Do you want me to tell them to come home now?" Lori pulled out her guardian phone. She had become questionably judged by her dear friends, but the higher tech and extra protection made them more than jealous.

"No. It's okay. I don't wish to interrupt their fun like this. They've earned their time together to relax. I certainly won't detour them from their date," Lisa shook her head as she made Lori close her cellphone, "I should resume work on the next guardian suits designs…"

"You do whatever makes you feel better. No one cares if you take a day off, Lisa. I'm going to go put Lily in her crib while you do that, then I'll come try and help," Lori stated.

"Thanks…" Lisa nodded. The older Loud headed off, carrying Lily to put her in bed so she could continue her nap.

* * *

Lincoln and Lynn were at the batting cages. The pitcher machines were set up to fire a flurry of baseballs at any given speed. Only the sibling couple and the worker at the small confessions stand off to the side seemed to be there.

"Oof!" Lincoln coughed as the last of the fast fired baseballs hit him in the stomach. He was too slow to land a swing on it. The Loud boy just shook it off before resting his baseball bat aside.

"How'd you do?" Lynn asked her brotherly boyfriend. Each batting cage had a tracker on it to let them see their results.

"Uh… I hit 53 out of 100," Lincoln answered while rubbing his sore stomach, having caught about four of those baseballs.

"What'd you score…? Why did I even ask?" The Loud boy shook his head. He could see Lynn's high score on the screen, much to his unexpected surprise, "You got 86 out of 100… of course."

"Aw, Lincoln, don't worry. You did good! Better than I expected," The auburn haired girl patted his back.

"Well… I'm going to go grab a snack. Do you want something?" Lincoln asked. The sun was setting and the streetlights were going on to illuminate the roads.

"Just grab me a watermelon bomb soda," Lynn wanted to hit more baseballs. She was enjoying this date a lot. Lincoln nodded, going off to the snack stand off to the side area. He noticed a small flat screen television on the inside of the snack bar. On screen were two reporters on television for a talk show, one that the Loud boy could care less about.

"This Guardian White is going to be the start of something great. Can you imagine it?" The male talk show host smiled, continuing the conversation for his female co-host.

"Yeah! These rouge vigilantes don't need to be our last hope anymore, we can finally rely on a professionally trained soldier. Not some random individuals who can only be presumed to be teenagers at the most, which is just even more scary. I cannot believe there are so many that support such untrained people with our lives," the female host said in reply, no doubt losing viewers with each word that she let out.

"The guardians are getting so much love that someone is making toys about…"

"Whatever," Lincoln used his guardian gauntlet to cut the electrical plug in two with a smile on his face. He began to process what they were saying.

"Wait… They said Guardian White? We don't have a white guardian…" Lincoln scratched his head while watching the worker finally come to take his order, looking confused over why he could not get his television back on, since it was the only thing curing their boredom.

"Hey, Lynn! Something's up," Lincoln called to his girlfriend, carrying their snacks while she was batting her next set. Still, this was something that needed their insight.

"What is it?" Lynn replied while hitting another ball away, while her brotherly boyfriend was eating some chips.

"Apparently there's a fourth guardian… I think," Lincoln came straight out and said it.

"What?!" Lynn was caught off guard, so much that she hit a baseball far too hard, the ball colliding against the pitching machine, with the impact of a miniature meteorite. The two teenagers looked at the now busted baseball pitching robot that had gotten knocked in half from the strong blow.

"I love you, Lynn, but I think we better bail before that one worker actually starts caring for his job," Lincoln claimed, not wanting to get in trouble for an accident.

"Right by your side," Lynn immediately took leave with him, letting their date be cancelled prematurely. It was something they half expected. Still, she was both confused and concerned. "I love you too but… a fourth guardian?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we need to get home and talk to Lisa and Lori about it," her brother shrugged, holding her hand as they walked the streets.

"I'm honestly excited about this."


	67. Book Woes

Xerarian hid in a small part of Royal Woods, disguised in his human form. It seemed like a lot of people were going through. Because of the curfew, they were just trying to get home. The disguised Xeran Elite caught their eye, mainly because of a small sign declaring free books for those who desired them.

"And what kind of genres do you enjoy?" Xerarian asked an elder that was his age, regarding the hundreds of years' difference of time, which the Xeran race granted to the former librarian from another dimension.

"I do enjoy a good scare, but there isn't much good writing with horror in it anymore," the old man said, not anticipating much from it. He watched Xerarian reach into his vest and pull out a thick book that appeared heavily damaged, like it had barely survived a war.

"This one is not exactly horror, but it documents monsters that may have or still prominently exist in the world," Xerarian handed over the book, the elder looking at the scorched title on the front, 'S.C.P Special Containment Procedures'.

"You can keep the book. I have no place for it anymore in my life."

"Really? Well thank you. This does have a spooky feel to it. Heheh," the elder headed off with the book. Xerarian wished to chuckle to himself in a devious manner, but that would have hinted that the book was merely a trap.

"Next in line please!" Xerarian called out to quite the lengthy line he had. Two military soldiers began to approach from the sides of the line. Their attention had been caught by the decently long line during their patrol.

"What's going on here? Curfew's in effect. You should all be situated in your home, or a friend's home, until five a.m.," One soldier stated. The curfew was short lasting and only meant to force the rough types off the streets and give the law abiding citizens of Royal Woods nothing to worry about, as long as they went along with it. The army was not going to be heavily enforcing the temporary law.

"If you have nowhere to go, there are public shelters that will accept you in during curfew hours and supply you with free meals," the other soldier added. Those were essentially homeless shelters that had gotten a significant upgrade by personal donations made by the military. It made a lot of people happy, and had immediately gotten Royal Woods to start treating these soldiers as heroes more than anything, before they had even done one thing since their arrival.

"I'm sorry, officers. I'm just giving away books that I have no need for in my life anymore. I needed to be rid of them, and fast," Xerarian apologized, so far doing excellent at acting like a regular human being trying to ease his life woes.

"Sir, why are you in such a rush to get rid of these books? They clearly are important to you," the first soldier asked. The disguised elder could just burn all the books on a bonfire, if he really was in that much of a desperate hurry that he had to be rid of them during curfew hours. Xerarian knew he had to think up a fast lie that would get these soldiers by the heart. Thankfully, he had just the one.

"I'm afraid that my home life has gone to shambles…" Xerarian explained, putting as much oomph as he could to express seriousness of the made up lie of a situation, "If I return home, I'm certain when my guard is lowered, my vindictive wife, who will soon be divorced, will burn these books, just because they're my passion… I figured I could share their stories and history to the current youth…"

The soldiers looked him over. The Xeran Elites disguised form certainly did resemble that of a man who had a nightmare for a home life.

"Well… I mean… I doubt the Xeran would do anything in this area," the first soldier said. It seemed rather random for a small neighborhood where many passed by on their way home to be the target of the Xeran. The soldiers seemed to believe more that the monstrous race would strike places where large groups of civilians would be idle.

"I guess we can let you get this done," the second soldier declared, "But as long as you promise to get going, afterwards."

"Thank you. I'm in your debt!" Xerarian thanked them as the soldiers left. The next person in line stepped up. The book-loving Xeran Elite saw an impatient Ronnie Anne in front of him with her hands in her coat pockets.

"My… you, uh… have a rather scary aura about you. What kind of books do you like?" Xerarian greeted the teenage girl, seeing her quirk an eyebrow at the comment.

"Eh. Just surprise me," Ronnie Anne shrugged. She would take any book, as long as it was entertaining. There was thankfully a seemingly great collection of older books that he had in store. How he carried them all in his vest was beyond her.

"Ah… well, I have the perfect one for you. It's relatively new and was made by someone researching the Xeran," Xerarian presented a grey book, that Ronnie Anne then took instantly.

"Really?! This is perfect! Thanks, gramps," the Santiago girl was more than happy with this, even if it was just a book full of theories. Xerarian smiled while watching her leave. Ronnie Anne wanted to instantly get this right to Lincoln.

"Well… at least this plan is going smoothly…" The librarian monster thought. There were a couple of tricks behind those books. Anyone who opened those books was rendered unable to put them down, until they had memorized the entire book. Also, anyone who had very strong volumes of essence would have their minds tinkered in a brainwashing manner. Unfortunately, he had no control on what happened to their minds. It was just a side method to hopefully irritate and bother the guardians and distract them from helping others, if they did somehow get their hands on the books. The copies of the random books were full of memory-related rambles to harass the reader's minds. He even made a few of the books full of Xeran propaganda. They were all formulated to be annoying and distracting, just what Shedun wanted.

"Those guardians won't know what hit them."

* * *

"We're home!" Lincoln announced. He and Lynn stood at the entrance.

"Welcome home," Lucy greeted the two while being sat in front of the television, just bored watching whatever caught her interest

"Hey Lucy. Are Lisa and Lori home?" Lynn could not see much of their family. She presumed most were upstairs already, getting washed up or spending the late night on their own self entertaining hobbies.

"They're in the garage," the gothic child pointed them to the garage, where Lisa was quite often lately whenever she worked, not that anyone minded. Nobody else really had much use for the garage, and no cars were stored in it during this season.

"Thanks Lucy," Lynn said, before she and Lincoln made their way to the garage. Along the way, though, they ran into their father midway. He was happy to see them home already, having been worried that he would have needed to go pick them up due to the curfew.

"Hey there, you two," Lynn Sr. Greeted, "How'd your days go?"

"It was alright, I guess," Lincoln shrugged, keeping that smile on his face. Their father could not help but feel his son was annoyed with him, even when he was still recovering from the mass damage that he and his siblings had taken the other day. Lincoln just came off like he had no patience for his dad, even if it was not his intention, it felt that way.

"Our school uh had an announcement… some of our schoolmates died, the linebacker on my football team was one of them," Lynn answered, more shook up from the news than her brotherly boyfriend was.

"Oh… I'm so sorry, honey," Mr. Loud pulled the sports-loving girl into a hug. Lincoln let them have their moment, as he continued off to the garage.

* * *

"Hey, sorry for being late," Lincoln stepped inside the garage and greeted the two sisters inside. Lori was holding a helmet that had no color so far, and was not even half done from appearances alone. It was in need of a lot of more refining to be done.

"Dad! Perfect timing," Lisa greeted him with a hug, Lincoln smiled, glad to be receiving these warm welcomes, though he wondered if he should be questioning his own comfort with her treating him like her real father.

"Hey, Lisa. Lynn'll come in a minute. She's caught up with dad…" Lincoln insisted, "So I guess you two have heard about this fourth guardian deal?"

"Indeed… I witnessed his public appearance, along with the general's speech on television," Lisa claimed, having put bun-bun back on her only brother's bed. She appeared ashamed of her panic attack, which Lori was keeping it secret for her.

"This Ben guy's all over TV now. No one's even seen his face yet," Lori bitterly said. She hated seeing someone become an instant celebrity, just because they had a guardian prototype suit and worked for the military.

"So this Guardian White guy's the top-picked soldier?" Lincoln beamed a smile.

"Yes…" Lisa murmured as she and Lori nodded. Lincoln's smile only grew and brightened from there.

"I can't wait to meet him."


	68. Open Pages

Lincoln found himself in the usual position whenever he was home, caught up in every other sister's antics. Even with three of his sisters associated working with the Guardian Project were busy, it was not any easier. Lincoln had agreed to go make sure no one had any suspicions about whatever was happening in the garage. Still, he accepted it, as he loved any excuse to spend time with his family.

"You were right, Lincoln! Tea parties are better with music!" Lola commented with a bright smile, seated at her tiny table that had a teacup set on it, with two of the other chairs being filled in by plush dolls. Luna laid nearby on one of the twins beds, just practicing on her acoustic wooden guitar.

"Heh… it was just a suggestion," Lincoln had been dragged into this tea party by lack of choice. That was how the spoiled Loud worked. She either got what she wanted, or got very upset until otherwise. He had no control on how random it was. Sometimes he would be a guest, and other times he would be the butler, or on occasion, the chair for the princess.

"I don't mind having an excuse to practice. My concert is this Saturday, remember?" Luna reminded them, pumping with excitement for her first personal concert. She had all the songs she planned to use prepared already, old, new, and some made along the way. Playing for her family was a good excuse for the rock lover to practice.

"Hm?" Lincoln jolted when they heard the doorbell ring out, "…who'd be at the front door at ten in the evening?"

"Someone else'll get it," Lola said, not wanting her tea party guests to leave. The Loud boy did not argue. He just remained seated and relaxed with that same smile on his face.

"Lincoln! You have a visitor!" Leni called out. The spoiled Loud child huffed and crossed her arms, frustrated.

"Don't worry, Lola. I'll be right back," Lincoln reassured with a hand on her shoulder. He stood up and left the younger children's room to go see who was here to visit him.

"Heh… he really has become one chill little bro," Luna smiled, proud to have been able to help raise him, and glad that everyone in the family seemed to be alright in their own weird regards. Lola ignored her comment and just continued sipping her tea.

* * *

"Who is it Leni? Oh…" Lincoln caught himself when he reached the bottom of the steps, where he saw Ronnie Anne with a book under her arm. He was shocked to see her, but she looked pretty happy.

"Hey, Lame-o. Sorry for the late visit," Ronnie Anne greeted her ex-boyfriend. The second eldest Loud remained standing there with a bright grin on her face.

"Ohh… Lincy, is this the girl you've been trying to impress lately?" Leni teased, trying to pry into his private life once again. Lincoln looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not in the mood for this teasing.

"No. I've already dated, kissed and been dumped by her, Leni," Lincoln replied straight-forwardly, this response seeming to overload his older sisters small mind. Ronnie Anne was annoyed at how blunt he had been, but did not care otherwise.

"Uhh… I think I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, Lincy," Leni was not sure what else to say in reply. She began to leave. Guardian Red rolled his eyes.

"And to the rest of you eavesdropping, if you don't knock it off, you're in for deep trouble when I'm finished!" Lincoln called out, before hearing a scatter of various feet tapping against the carpeted floor, in a desperate attempt to separate and return to acting casual to avoid their brother's wrath.

"So what made come over this late for, Ronnie Anne?"

"This," Ronnie Anne presented the book to him that she had received from Xerarian. Not that she knew that little massively important detail.

"A book?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

"A book. Y'see, some guy was giving out books, and one he had was from someone researching the Xeran. I figured even if it's a bunch of random junk, it might still be handy for you all to gloss over," Ronnie Anne explained, still keeping the conversation somewhat toned down, because of the chance that his siblings that weren't on board with the Guardian Project, were keeping very open ears out to try and listen to their conversation.

"Seriously?" Guardian Red took the book. The title cover had been covered in a kind of black gunk, like a child had gotten bored with a black ink pen and scribbled it out.

"Seriously," the Santiago girl exclaimed, "He didn't want anything for it, since apparently his ex-wife was threatening to burn his entire collection."

"Boy… I can't imagine anybody I know doing something like that," he sarcastically joked with that same smile of his, before getting punched hard in the arm by his ex-girlfriend.

"Shut up, Lame-o!" She growled. He seemed intent on getting under her skin lately. His ability to do it so easily did not make it any better to her. She then turned her back to him.

"Anyway, you can have it. I'm just gonna hurry on home. I've already seen a few military going around the smaller areas. They're nice, but I don't feel comfortable knowing people are roaming around with assault rifles. I'm tired anyway and in need of a little dinner."

"Why don't you stay here for the night? I don't want you getting in trouble for being caught out past curfew," Lincoln stated. He would be happy to let her be involved with the creation of her own guardian suit that everyone else had been working their best on these last few days. They still needed the package of Gruynithil from Bruino before they could finish it.

"I'll be fine… See you at school tomorrow," Ronnie Anne bitterly shot down his offer and headed back out the front door. Lincoln was left holding the book, which he opened with his one hand to begin reading it, before going off to get back to Lola and Luna.

"Weird…" Lincoln muttered. The book did not have anything about the Xeran in it, but rather talking about family lives, values or views. Normally that would have made him throw the book away instantly, but he felt mesmerized by it, not wanting to put it down.

"Well… Maybe I can learn a thing or three from this?" Lincoln wondered, not seeing any harm in continuing reading, as he went upstairs to get back to the tea party. Not even caring when the book started mentioning very familiar names, ones of people very close to him.

* * *

"The framework is being made nicely…" BelGaner commented, over viewing the textoth. They were making giant wire frames for monster bodies. Inside these wire frames were the majesty's hearts hanging in various parts of them.

"How are things coming along?" Zeggfor entered the room, where he too noticed the various machines being operated and prepared by the skeleton monsters.

"So far it is coming along alright. Did the prisoner Shedun release seem able to acquisition us the few days' time we need?" BelGaner asked. The general of offense shook his head, with no real idea on what to think about that Xeran Elite himself.

"I suppose so. He isn't even too big of a threat, but he is perfectly annoying," Zeggfor nodded in agreement, thinking they were pretty well set in regards to that. He recalled the first time they came across Xerarian. It was quite odd, but he was willing to join the Xeran and accept his new form, so no one cared to judge him for it. Nobody wanted their lives to be ended abruptly.

"What are you creating, exactly?" The general of offense demanded. The concept of the majesty's many hearts going to an unknown project was a constant worry for it failing, especially if it risked the Xeran leader's life.

"Our comrade was correct in thinking that fighting fire with fire was a good idea, he executed it poorly however…" BelGaner coughed, with no hesitation to explain his motives, "But this time, we're making Xeran Guardians, purely from the film reels that recorded them."

"…Do my ears deceive me? You are actually creating guardians?! Why do such a senseless thing?! The last one we allowed Teronzata to create has become a full fledged guardian bent on slaughtering us!" Zeggfor was angry now, watching the textoth loading up the film reels. The general of strategy laughed at the lack of thinking his fellow general had there.

"Don't worry. I have things more than prepared for this. The last mistake was making a human the guardian… This time, we're going to make these Xeran Guardians completely monsters. Monsters that will know their clones exact moves," BelGaner replied, reassuring that there was no chance of betrayal this time.

"I do not believe you, BelGaner," Zeggfor was glaring at him not sure what to feel about this, "In the event that these Xeran Guardians do have the guts to betray us… it may bring disaster to us all!"

"Hmph…" BelGaner shook his head as he stared at Zeggfor, "You know. Zeggfor… you share quite a few qualities with that red star… You both just keep fighting, yet somehow your bodies never give out, no matter how much essence you burn. If only I could find more things that you and the red star have in common…"

"I am NOTHING like that brat!" A bolt of thunder flew past his head and crashed into a poor random textoth, which exploded on contact into a puff of dark grey smoke.

"You know as well as I do that the guardians have something special with their essence, something we can't take without killing them!" Zeggfor growled, a nerve in his head hit from being compared like this, "If these Xeran Guardians fail us, then I will come after you for nearly depriving the majesty of his life!"

The grey horned monster began to walk away, and the mechanical Xeran general returned his attention to the work at hand.

"No need to fear… After all, we've learned that with enough essence, the majesty hearts can revive those that die…" BelGaner took a seat and lay back since the textoth were doing good so far. He watched the skeleton monsters begin to load up the alien metal.

"So what happens if we fill each one of these ten hearts with essence, until they can't hold anymore?"


	69. Shifting Pages

**Authors note: Apologies again dear viewers, the review system is busted. I can still read your reviews via Email notification. I apologize deeply, please take care.**

Lincoln lay in bed in his nightwear, flat on his back, reading the same book that Ronnie Anne had brought him. He just simply could not put it down once he had started reading it. Most of the Loud house was now in bed or just drowsy, and on the verge of slumber. Lynn had opted into staying in her own room tonight to try and ease off what little suspicion there was on the two. At the moment though, the entire family was more worried than anything about their injuries.

"This is… so weird, but I like it. This books like an old journal I forgot," Lincoln murmured. The book had started reminding him of older memories with his family quite well, almost to the exact detail of the very memories themselves, but Guardian Red was barely paying it any mind, like any worry in his brain was being brushed aside and smothered. Lincoln soon heard the door to his room creak open.

"You alright, Lincoln?" Luan stood there, grabbing his attention away from the book momentarily, which otherwise had been exceedingly hard to do, even by himself. It was like his one hand was welded onto the back of it.

"Hey Luan. I'm feeling alright, thanks. Why do you ask?" Lincoln replied. Luan looked ready for bedtime herself, but had come to talk to him first.

"You got hit by a truck. That's why I'm asking. Of course I'm going to check up on you a lot after something like that happens," Luan claimed, she was here to make sure he was alright and not feeling any pain anywhere in his body, she was checking up on Lori and Lynn as well.

"Do you hurt anywhere at all?" Luan looked down at the book he had in his hand. When she observed the book, much to her confusion, the pages were all completely blank.

"I hurt in a lot of places, Luan. I'm sore and tired a lot, but I'm happy and fine otherwise," Lincoln declared while feeling his older sister put her hand on his forehead, trying to check him for a fever.

"Hey, there's no need to be 'sore' about it. I'm just worried that you're faking being happy," Luan explained with a pun mixed in, gaining a small laugh from her only brother. The Loud boy was happy nearly all the time now. Normally the comedian was good at seeing through fake joy or not, but this time she was unsure herself. It was great he was happy, but if he was faking his joyousness, then that was simply quite horrible.

"I'm as happy as ever, Luan. I told you I had to grow up. I'm just glad to wake up every morning to see you all alright," Lincoln explained with that same honest reply he had given everyone so far, while he was glancing at his book.

"You really are one big 'grown' man now," Luan giggled, pulling her brother into a hug. He happily returned the hug, but suddenly felt a small jolt of electricity up the side of his back that surprised him.

"Yeow! What the-!?" Lincoln saw his prank loving sister holding her joy buzzer, like usual it was being used on everything but someone's hand. It was her second ever prank she had learned, the first being the squirting flower trick their dad taught her.

"Heh… Thanks for the wake up. Goodnight, Luan. I appreciate your checking up on me," Lincoln thanked her as Luan went to the door. She assumed that his supposedly empty book was just a new personal diary that she had caught him opening before he could write in it yet.

"Anytime, Linc! You keep growing this fast, and we're going to have to start calling you big brother," Luan joked, gaining a light laugh from her brother. She closed the door to let him do as he pleased.

"Man… sleeping alone at night really does suck…" Lincoln said to himself. His bed may not be meant for more than one person, but it still felt a lot emptier when he was alone, especially since he had been sharing it with his sisterly girlfriend for the last few weeks.

"At least you're here so we can keep each other company," the lone Loud boy spoke to Bun-bun beside him.

"And you're here so we can keep everyone safe," he then said to his guardian gauntlet. The blazing red color almost shimmered in the moonlight coming from the window. The red curve-tipped star was snug in his pocket. Lincoln's eyes reverted to the book. He, however, could see words on the pages that Luan somehow couldn't. He was reading teachings about family, as if it was the book's purpose. The words on the pages began to shift and move into different places to rearrange into new sentence.

"Huh… Cool," Lincoln did not even care. His mind once again blocked out any worries it had with these unusual actions of this book. Not one single alarm bell was ringing in his head. He went on to read the new page. It felt like it was inside his own mind.

 **"Being a father is hard. It takes a kind hearted, gentle soul, yet a firm, outer shell around the heart, to help raise a good child. Those without a significant other who can still manage it are just as commendable as a king to his subjects. Do you believe you would be an excellent father?"**

Lincoln could hear a calm voice somewhat echoing in his head, like someone was narrating the book aloud to him. Just another one of the many oddities that he held no concern for. He just did not feel worried at all about it. The book really had his attention too well.

"Yeah… I'd like to think I'd be a good dad," Lincoln answered the book, even if he was just speaking to the empty air around him. He suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through his entire head, like a railroad spike had been jabbed into his forehead at lightning speed. The pain vanished after a few excruciating moments.

"Ohh… I think I'm a really good father," Lincoln changed his answer, his smile on his face unchanging. The strange book now presented a picture that should not even exist. It was of him holding Lisa and Lily with a bright smile. The picture looked brand new, but its background depicted them clearly in the spring season.

"Mhm… I'm trying my best for both of them," Lincoln chuckled, not caring about the imaginary fabricated picture. He suddenly heard a snarling noise. Charles stood beside his bed, looking hostile. Nobody in the Loud family had ever seen the young dog like this before.

"Charles? What's the matter, boy?" Guardian Red climbed out of bed and looked to their dog, wondering if Lucy had released another dozen ghosts from one of her rituals, not that they ever would be able to tell. The last time ghosts appeared was due to him tampering with one of Lisa's inventions.

"Whoa! Charles?!" Lincoln gasped when his dog lunged up and snatched the book from his own hand. He had memorized its words quite well since they were all in his very head and being made up on the spot, it made the book easy to remove from his grasp. Charles did not waste any time gnawing and shredding it apart like it was math homework.

"Wh…what was that about, boy?" He asked, nervously. Charles had torn every page out of the book and ripped each one to shreds in a matter of seconds like his life depended on it. Now the Loud dog was sat there panting, looking normal again.

"Well, I mean… Mom always said animal intuition was better than human intuition… Dunno if I agree with that entirely, but I'll give you the pass for this one little guy," Lincoln rubbed his dog's head and picked up some of the shredded pages. When he checked them one last time, they were completely blank. Not only did Lincoln become confused by it, but he could not even remember what he had done in the past twenty minutes. The book did not even get the remote chance to tamper with his mind about the guardians luckily, in fact it had only messed with his head about his position in the family.

"I'd better go check on Lisa…" Lincoln smiled, moving past the incident relatively fast. Once it was all cleaned up and thrown into a waste basket in his room, he went off to check up on the child prodigy, since without a doubt, she was up late working away on the guardian suit as much as she could with the given materials. They still needed the package for Gruynithil before they could finish it.

* * *

"I can't believe the progress on this being impeded, thanks to everything occurring simultaneously…" Lisa murmured to herself while working on the fourth guardian suit. Lynn and Lori were both in bed already, as were most of the Loud house.

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you alright?" The teenage male guardian stood at the doorway of the garage. The genius child welcomed that nice upbeat tone he had, though there was something strange about him, which she paid no mind.

"Yes, dad. I'm just fine… The guardian suit is halfway complete, and I've essentially done all I can at the moment. Once Dr. Bruino's shipment of Gruynithil arrives, we should be able to complete the suit," Lisa explained, happily letting him see the progress himself. He was impressed, though the suit was not colored yet, it still needed weaponry as well.

"You're doing great, Lisa… I don't know how else I can tell you how proud I am of you," Lincoln put a hand on her shoulder. Lisa had a bright smile on her face. As she turned to him, he picked her up and brought her into a hug.

"Linco… Dad, will you accompany me to the scientist gathering that the military is hosting tomorrow night?" Lisa requested, as she predicted she had gotten requested to come. She did not want to go alone to somewhere that could bring her unfathomable tension. She could not ask their parents to go with her, either. They would be uncomfortable and not too useful for that scenario.

"Of course honey. Anything for my daughter," Lincoln chuckled as he carried her, turning off the garage light along the way. She was relieved to hear that response, not even questioning his newfound comfort with treating her as a daughter. It made her more relaxed.

"How about you get some sleep tonight? You can take tomorrow easy since you can't do much more for the suit right now," Lincoln insisted as he took her to the younger children's room. Lana, Lola and Lily were all asleep there already. Lisa could not argue or refute his logic.

"Do you want the others to accompany us as well?" Lisa offered him to bring Lynn and Lori along as well. The teenage boy rested Lisa down on her bed.

"Nah… I want to meet that Guardian White guy alone," Lincoln claimed while the child prodigy put her glasses on the nightstand.

"Why are you so eager to meet him?" Lisa wondered, "Yes, this Ben individual is the top handpicked soldier that the military most likely spent a lot of time selecting from a large group of professionals… There no doubt was a reason Ben stuck out and became Guardian White. So why are you so fascinated with encountering him? You have no idea how he'll react to your presence."

"I want to fight him," Lincoln declared. That same bright smile on his face still remained, "This guy was meant to be Guardian Red before I forced my way into the Guardian Project, right? I want to see if I can stand up and give him a run for his money."

"You want to announce your identity to a military soldier who most likely does not care about honor? Do you want me to lock your guardian gauntlet and take away that control from you?" Lisa threatened. Their emotions were one big problem with the military that made them not suited for the Guardian Project. The soldiers were instead trained to all be robotic, uncaring fighters. Their personalities may remain intact, but they were in the end, forced to cut off any general feelings of remorse or care for emotions, the very thing that essence was formed from and that the guardians drew their strength from.

"Ha! Even if you take my suit, I'll still fight him… we'll take about it more tomorrow. I don't want to wake the others up," Lincoln stated. Lisa was unsure whether to respect his determination or frown on his idiocy of wanting to fight someone who could be a potential ally, or an interloping soldier who will just get in their way when fighting the Xeran.

"Fine… Goodnight. Dad," Lisa bid him goodnight as Lincoln pulled the blankets up for her.

"G'night, Lisa. You have a good sleep," after checking up on Lily and the twins, Lincoln left the room, closing the door gently behind him and beginning to go back to his room, staring at his guardian gauntlet most of the way.

"You may be my guardian gauntlet, but I just want to see if I'm doing better than the top picked soldier would have done at saving the world…"


	70. Late Meeting

**Authors note: Thank you all for the support, this story is at 35,000 views and this is its 70th chapter! It wouldn't be possible if it were not for you all, thank you again so much! No we are not near the end, sorry for the odd update schedule. I am trying to update daily still, but the holidays are somewhat obscuring me. This is my first christmas ever, really. Take care!**

The next day for Royal Woods had gone by and remained normal with no interruptions. Unfortunately those being affected by Xerarian's books were just refusing to announce their mind tampering, and anyone who did notice did not mind, because there was no harm in reading, the exact opposite really. Xerarian was doing his job of being distracting, but not on a wide enough scale to matter.

The librarian monster screamed in terror when he got knocked away by a strong hit, landing hard onto his back, forced out of his disguised form. Shedun stood before him. The two were in an alleyway.

"What was that for?! I'm distracting the humans as you requested, as well as making several be forced to speak to groups before they can put their books down!" Xerarian declared in irritation. The diamond shield was smacked into his face, making him lose hold of his large book that fell aside.

"Blasphemy! You've done nothing these last few days beyond give humans something to occupy themselves with! They don't even have to keep both hands on the books! They can just freely take one off whenever they want!" Shedun began stomping on the book.

"A-ah! Wait! No! Please don't do that! I-I can be more annoying! Believe me! I just was not aware of how extreme you wanted me to be!" Xerarian begged for the book to not be destroyed. The general of the prison kicked the book over to him.

"Then you'd better put your best ability to use. You are the last being of your own dimension, and I won't hesitate to make you vanish to nothingness, if you do cause me to lose my chance at my own redemption," Shedun declared, more than willing to make that dimension's last survivor extinct, not that anyone knew or cared about it beyond the Xeran.

"Ye-yes… don't worry! Making the pages come to life will achieve so much for us! I'll begin tonight, after I have it all prepared…" Xerarian insisted. The diamond shield wielding monster shook his head, turning away and walking off into a portal to return to the eldritch realm, the portal closing behind him and leaving the librarian monster fearfully standing there.

* * *

Today was the day. The early night was upon them. Lincoln and Lisa walked to a more outer part of Royal Woods. The child prodigy was carrying a small briefcase with her, just in case. Lincoln was just eager to meet Guardian White. It did take a lot of convincing for him to get Lisa to agree to his desires. For wanting to fight Guardian White, Lincoln in trade was forced to wear this orange suit and red tie so he could look more like a professional body guard. Lisa was wearing her lab coat, which was too big for her, but she did not care or mind it. She had to look the part of scientist as well for this meeting, and it would be simply weird for a scientist like her to show up without her lab wear.

"You think Lori and Lynn are going to be alright going out on their own?" Lincoln questioned. The loud family had a lot of various plans for the Wednesday night, their parents were going to take Lana to a special vehicle show since the mechanically gifted child had improved her grades dramatically, like promised, so that kept the loud parents plenty distracted tonight.

"They should be fine, Lincoln… I'll admit that I am very curious to see what happens if Lori and Lynn combine the Guardian Black and Guardian Blue suits," Lisa exclaimed. Lori at the moment was on a date with Bobby, treasuring that precious time with the ones she was closest to, while Lynn had gone to a practice baseball game to prepare for an upcoming match for the season.

"I wanna see it too, honey… It's a shame we can't use these combination modes more than three times a day," Lincoln agreed with her curiosity, but like he was often reminded by her, using the combined modes more than three times without a twenty-four hour waiting period in between would cause a fatal explosion.

"I'll continue my research no matter what, dad…I'll do my best to try and turn this accidental glitch, into an even more powerful purposeful tool for justice," Lisa reassured. Even if the need for the Guardian Project dwindled to nothing, she would not stop researching the Xeran or essence. They were simply too fascinating. The multiple properties they brought from all the combined dimensions being together, could help technology and all of humanity advance. Nobody knew what those other dimensions were like, but they all held their own special properties clearly.

"And we'll be there to help you every step of the way," Lincoln claimed, still showing that reassuring bright face that Lisa appreciated. She just wished Vernan could be here to see his very own invention's completion, and how it was aiding the world.

"There it is…" Lisa took in a breath. They stood in front of the building that had military presence around it, the very two guards standing in the way of the front entrance. Several people could enter after showing their invitations and proof of their identities.

"Are you sure you want to go in there? I can take you back home if you want?" Lincoln offered, aware of how scared she was despite not showing it. Lisa was holding his hand, appreciative of his kindness toward her. He had been so much more lively thanks to this heroic lifestyle.

"Of course I don't want to go in there, dad. I want to go home and continue working on other experiments and making sure the fourth guardian suit is operational… Sadly, this is mandatory. If we want to help avoid suspicion upon ourselves, then I must attend," Lisa never did feel comfortable outside of her personal workplace. She was more or less a self shut in.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you sweetheart," Lincoln hated seeing her sad. A light bulb instantly flicked on in his head while they approached the building, he had the perfect idea in mind. One that he had been dwelling on more or less for the last week or so, it only was until now that the best person for said gift appeared.

"Actually… I have a present for you. I'll give you it when we get home," Lincoln claimed.

"O…kay?" The young girl nodded, not sure what he had in mind, but she would more than gladly accept it, she had been curious about how he had been acting, since he was so nice to her that he had even made breakfast for them both this morning. She kept brushing it off as her not being used to this type of treatment.

"ID, please," the first soldier at the door stopped them. Lisa pulled out her identification card, she had to it carry on hand at all times to prove her intelligence often and just show she had earned a PhD to begin with.

"Ah… you're Lisa Loud? Heh… they weren't kidding, you're even younger than my daughter… I just thought those news reports of the super smart child were old," the soldier said, surprised to meet the young girl and seeming pleasant about the whole matter. He returned the ID to the young scientist.

"And who is this accompanying you?" The second soldier requested. Lincoln was just surprised at how nice they were. He expected the military to be paranoid and draw guns on anybody suspicious. Thankfully, they all had their heads on straight. It showed that general Eugene somehow was able to keep his men calm, despite the terrifying rumors spreading because of the Xerans actions.

"Oh! I'm Lincoln loud. Her dad," Lincoln didn't shy away from answering. The two soldiers looked to one another, eyebrows raised. Lisa wondered why he had said that. She presumed that he would never treat her like his daughter in public or even say that type of stuff. The prodigy was glad with how supportive he was of how she viewed him, if he was willing to continue said treatment outside the home, she loved him all the more for it.

"Well… You're doing much better than most parents your age… or most parents in general. Anyway, enjoy the meeting. The general is waiting for everyone in the gathering room. It's on the second floor at the end of the hall, once you get up the steps," the soldier replied.

"Thanks!" Lincoln and Lisa thus they made their way inside the building.

The two were impressed with how nice the building was. The brightly red carpeted floor and the next to spotless walls looked as though they had been instantly cleaned overnight. This was the outpost for the military. There were a lot of soldiers around doing their own activities. Some of the scientists stood talking with friends they knew who had come back to Royal Woods under General Eugene's orders.

"Lisa! Hey, I figured you would try to avoid this meeting," a rather high pitched voice spoke up. They were greeted at the middle of the hallway after they had climbed upstairs. A balding man in his early thirties stood there in his white coat. He had a lot of scratch marks on his face and hands that looked like he had upset a house full of cats.

"Doctor Bruino Anderson? What are you doing here?" Lisa was stunned to see him here. This was Doctor Bruino in the flesh, his failure as a scientist showed with his voice, after an experiment involving helium permanently changed his vocal chords.

"They apparently sent out that 'invitation' to former scientists as well… I was coming to Royal Woods anyway and I figured this would be the best way to bring you the package," Bruino presented the tightly secure box to Lisa. He had not trusted the mailing system out of his own paranoia. The military inviting him made sense, every type of expert could help against the Xeran after all.

"Really?! Yes! That's excellent! Thank you, Bruino," Lisa exclaimed with a bright joyous smile, making sure to keep the box close to her and very safe.

"We should get moving. The meeting should be starting soon," Bruino said with a smirk. Lincoln was happy to see them go off.

"I'll catch up to you, Lisa. I'm going to go look for him," Lincoln declared.

"Okay. Dad. Please be careful," Lisa pleaded.

"I'll try my best," he gave a nod and left.

 **"Now to go find Guardian White..."**


	71. Challenge

Lincoln wandered through the building. The meeting that was now going on had drawn away the attention of all the scientists, leaving all the soldiers to return to their duties. Most of them seemed to have been given the task of monitoring reports from all of Royal Woods that might be Xeran-related, they had to judge and see if they were worth investigating or not.

"This Ben guy should be easy to find… then again, his guardian suit is a prototype. I doubt it even has the DNA registering anti-theft stuff Lisa talked about…" Lincoln thought to himself. He was trying to look for Guardian White, keeping an eye out more for visibly obvious guardian gear that Ben without a doubt would be carrying at all times, like that strange gun he had on television.

"Guess I should keep my eyes out for the most uptight type of guys… then again, he kind of looked like a girl? Maybe the Ben name was just parents being stupid with names again," Lincoln kept musing to himself in his own mind. Each room he entered was just more military personnel doing their own tasks. They seemed to have no mind for the boy in an orange suit and red tie wearing the guardian gauntlet as he was wandering around. Guardian Red was keeping up the hunt for Guardian White, keeping his eagerness to battle hidden within himself.

* * *

"Thank you all for coming tonight, nearly all of the great minds of Michigan," General Eugene was seated at one of the far ends of one large table in the meeting room. All of the scientists of Michigan, from successful, failed to retired, were gathered here. A round of hellos and thanks from the scientists sounded, though none of them sounded like they were comfortable around military presence. Even those who invented weapons for the army felt unsafe around them. It was not like the room was guarded either. It was just the scientists and the general in this meeting.

"Mr. Redact, do you mind if I ask something?" Lisa chimed in, glad that her lisp was not getting in the way of people understanding her. Bruino Anderson was seated nearby, idle during this meeting. He could see how tightly the child prodigy was protecting that box of Gruynithil. He could not blame her for this.

"Little lady, you can refer to me however you choose. There is no need for any of you to be formal unless you want to, since none of you serve under my platoon," General Eugene declared, once again off putting the weird atmosphere in the room he did not come off like the normal general type. Lisa presumed that it might have something to do with him being a vegetable, if it was not for Vernan's inventions connected to him at the moment.

"Well… what happened to you to require that spinal nerve motor function device? I ask, because it was invented by my late friend, Vernan Otis," Lisa requested. This was the man Vernan had kept in contact with about the Guardian Project, which was most likely how he learned of the elder inventor's death.

"Well, miss… this is from the biggest mistake in my life, where my punishment for it was karma delivering a machete through my spinal cord. Vernan fixed me up so I could continue my work for our country. He was indeed a good friend, and a genius," General Eugene exclaimed, his tone shaky from just recalling the incident that he had done to receive this karmic retribution, as he dubbed it. Now he was burdened to this augmented form for the rest of his days.

"Oh… I'm sorry, general," Lisa murmured. She did not want to press on what exactly the military official had done. He would tell them if he so desired, it was very personal clearly.

"It's okay… now, I'm sure none of you know this, but aren't going to be surprised when I say that the Guardian Project was meant for the military," General Eugene continued on with the start of the meeting, interested in the stolen technology, "Vernan was meant to turn it over once it was completed. He had spent the last near decade of his life working on it. Unfortunately, he was murdered by a Xeran monster and his work was lost… Until the very guardian showed up wearing one suit, and then two more appeared. I don't mind what they're doing. I'm grateful for their heroic deeds. I just don't appreciate the theft of the Guardian Project and lack of forwardness. I understand secret identities with the public, but they could at least join up with the military."

The scientists were unsure what to say in reply to him. Joining the army would help the guardians keep themselves secret easier. Lisa knew that what the general said was not an option, she knew their family would not allow a single child to go into the army, especially in this day and age. It was glorified suicide.

"I assume that's what you assembled us here for? You believe one of us is the inventor heading the Guardian Project?" Bruino asked, unsure if this was right or justified. A meeting of the minds turned into a practical interrogation, and Lisa expected this. At least she was in the company of many scientists she recognized. General Eugene came off as a nice individual as well.

"Exactly. I believe those exact words completely, Mr. Bruino… but, I could be wrong. It could be some unknown scientist who has yet to make their mark on the world yet, and this is their grand opening act on this big stage we call life," the military general retorted with another theory. There were many options, but starting off with the most notable scientists, well known for their own special gifts to society and advancements to technology, was the best place to begin the search for the Guardian Project's members and leaders.

"Oh dear… this is going to be a very long meeting…" Lisa took her glasses off of her face and rubbed her eyes. She wished Lincoln was here right now. This was going to be nothing more than a meeting of subtle interrogation techniques, that she was not willing to care about. She would try and pay as little mind to it as possible.

* * *

"I can't seem to find him… Maybe he's on a patrol too?" Lincoln was at the back of the building where no one seemed to reside. The room was connected to the outside. Otherwise it was just full of junk that was no longer needed for anything else. He presumed that Guardian White was off patrolling for Xeran activity.

"I need some air," the lone Loud boy looked to the back door, he went over and grabbed the handle before he opened it. He stepped outside, where the cool night air instantly hit his face and blew his hair back slightly. He let the door close behind him.

"Hm?" Lincoln noticed somebody out there. The young twenty-year-old man was sitting down at the bottom of the three steps by the small concrete platform by the door.

"Are you okay?"

The man looked to him. He was wearing a black beanie cap that barely contained his very messy blonde hair, that had a purple streak in the left part of the fringe. He was also wearing a very baggy loose green coat that clearly was not his.

"Eh? Yeah, little dude. I'm just enjoying the night," the man had a very relaxed tone. Lincoln certainly understood the desire to enjoy the peace. He himself did that after every long battle for peace. What was weird was that the man did not look like a soldier or even acted as one.

"No way…" The middle Loud child was caught off guard, when he saw that very advanced technological weapon on the side of the man, contained within the holster. His jaw dropped with a hand raised with a finger pointed to the man.

"You're Ben!?"

"Ben Remscoraide, the one and hopefully only," Ben introduced himself with a light hearted chuckle, unfazed by the random screaming. Lincoln was impressed that the young man could even remember his own last name and how to pronounce it. Ben looked like a college dropout with not a single day of military experience, he acted like he had an IQ of 48 at best as well.

"You're Guardian White?" Lincoln questioned.

"Totally, bro… So who are ya?" Ben popped a question of his own. Lincoln loosened his tie and pulled out his red curve-tipped star, presenting it very proudly like a personal badge.

"I'm Lincoln Loud… Guardian Red," Lincoln announced with his confident bucktoothed smile.

"Oh so you're the hero? Cool."

Lincoln was disappointed by this reaction. He kept wondering how this person of all in the world was suited to be a guardian in any form at all. But, he was in no position to judge him whatsoever.

"Uhh, yeah… I kind of stole the Guardian Project. I knew you were meant to become Guardian Red beforehand," Lincoln explained. Guardian White looked at him calmly with no real care in his face.

"I guess so… What can I do for the little comrade-o?" Ben acted like he had just made a new friend at the food court in a mall. The Loud boy took in a deep breath, seeing no one else in this back area other than them. Lincoln put his red curve-tipped star into his guardian gauntlet, watching it close as the claws extended out.

"I want to see which one of us is the better fighter," Guardian Red declared. Guardian White took a moment to process this, before he nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Radical, dude."


	72. Engage The Guardian

**Authors Note: I wanted to say I hope you all have a merry christmas, and thanks for supporting this fic so much! Please enjoy, and take care.**

The two guardians stood across from one another. They had gone away a short distance from the small military outpost. Guardian White had accepted Guardian Red's challenge to a duel. It was unexpected, but Ben respected the determination to battle. Lincoln still was unsure what or how to feel about the very laid back army soldier. It made him wonder if the military had become less strict recently. It was the only thing that made sense, but sadly was the least plausible option as well.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln inserted his star into the back of his gauntlet, before he slammed his guardian gauntlet clad fist into the ground, watching the fiery embers engulf him. His red guardian suit appeared and the helmet materialized. The young boy grabbed the front and back of his helmet.

"Lock in!" His helmet securely locked into place. The silver stripes on his helmet flicked on, unveiling a bright red set of lights.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" The young boy tapped the side of his helmet, closing his visor and covering his upper face. He then struck his pose, allowing a burst of red smoke to erupt behind him.

"Let's shift for battle!" Ben drew his special gun, spinning the back of it which seemed to house a weird electrical sphere that began to spark violently. The laid back soldier spun around before shooting a laser bolt into the air. It exploded midway and began to rain its particles down around him. The white guardian suit appeared and shifted onto his body. His alien-like helmet then appeared on his head, locking into place automatically and emitting a burst of steam from the sides.

"Ready to engage the enemy," Ben announced. He hadn't fancy explosions or effects to introduce himself with. He kept the laser gun in both of his hands, one hand on the grip with one finger on the trigger, and his other hand on the front underneath of it, just before where the short serrated knife was stationed.

"I was right. He really doesn't need a star to transform or anything. That gun is the morpher, the power converter… It's everything," Lincoln thought. It was surprising to him. It meant there was no DNA register anti theft measure in place in case of someone trying to steal it. This was such low key care and security for a military-made item. Lisa could probably find a million more flaws with just a slight look of the blueprints for the prototype.

"Dual mode! Engage!" Lincoln made his gauntlet release its smaller set of claws, that he allowed to attach to his other wrist, he slashed them together before he began to charge at the opposing guardian. The duel had begun. How far both sides were willing to go to win was the main worry in the atmosphere, but not on their minds.

Ben fired a strong white laser blast, but Lincoln caught it with his gauntlet, which stopped him in his tracks with how much force there was in the single beam, that it shoved him back a short distance, despite his feet being firmly in the ground. Lincoln resumed his charge once it dissipated, slashing at Guardian White. The laid back soldier blocked the attacks with his gun. Before punching the red guardian back to stumble him.

"Boost up!" The back of Guardian White's gun began to spark and glow. Lincoln stomped forward, glaring as he prepared himself. The relaxed soldier aimed for him, and he pulled the trigger. A large laser burst out. Guardian Red stabbed both sets of claws forward, slashing the white beam in half as it went around him.

Lincoln panted once the laser passed. Seconds later, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. Electrical smoke exploded off his upper back, throwing him forward on the ground. The lasers had returned after being split in two, like they had artificial magnets on them which drew them directly to him. Lincoln felt like his suit was pierced without so much as making a scratch on it. Those lasers really were quite powerful. Ben twirled his gun, before tossing it in the air and spinning around.

"Shift blast! Bounder!" Guardian White caught his gun. The sore Lincoln got up, he was ready to counter the attack. The relaxed soldier began to fire lasers at a rapid rate. Lincoln began to smack away each laser he could, while the rest were thankfully missing him.

"What the-?!" Lincoln was confused. Any projectiles he reflected or smacked away would freeze midair into a white ball of light. He was now surrounded by dozens of these floating white spheres. They began to rapidly spin around him, forming into one large white laser that seemed to just keep speeding up. Lincoln was soon crushed by the large spinning laser. The swirling pain consumed him, attacking his suit like a savage beast.

"Shift blast! Full power!" Guardian White aimed for the trapped boy. The blaster discharged a strong laser blast that nearly knocked the relaxed soldier off his feet. Lincoln took the hit to the chest, and was blasted through the entire circle of a laser. He hit the ground back-first, kicking up a lot of dirt, with a large scorch mark on the front of his red suit's chest now.

"Bummer, man… Maybe I went overboard," Ben looked his gun over in surprise, having anticipated that another guardian would have been able to tank more hits than that. Range versus melee, things were so split that if there was a crowd here to watch, Guardian Red would be a laughing stock. The white guardian could not see the bright red essence swirling down Lincoln's arms to both claws.

"Eh? Where'd you go, little dude?" Ben saw nothing left where the dirt and dust had cleared. It made him afraid that he might have disintegrated him. His laser blaster certainly had done it before on target practice.

"I'm not beaten that easily! What kind of hero would I be if I was that weak?" Lincoln was behind Ben. He quickly put him in a grapple, restraining both arms.

"I don't know, man. A bad one I guess?" Guardian White replied to the obviously rhetorical statement. Guardian Red huffed in irritation, jumping up and kicking both feet into his opponent's lower back. Yet, there were no cries of pain coming from the relaxed man. He had kicked him hard enough to knock him forward out of his own grasp, and there was no pain-stricken reaction.

"Take this!" Lincoln's guardian gauntlet's two sets of claws caught fire, manifesting his anger and fury. He lashed out with each strong blow, hitting Guardian White, and leaving a trail of embers in the air, and electrical smoke blowing off of his suit.

"Spiral!" Guardian Red began spinning to hit his enemy at a lot more rapid pace. Guardian White was keeping his guard up, trying to just absorb every hit he could, despite not doing the best of job blocking. The laid back military guardian was not letting out any cried pains at all.

"Time to finish it!" Lincoln took aim. His claws fired off, all six of them impaling Ben's arms to a large wooden crate behind him that was being used to help hold up scaffolding.

"You really are fueled by the flames of life… radical," Ben chuckled, not seeming to care for the very dangerous situation he was in. Guardian Red did not get detoured from his objective. More of his red essence was pouring into his blazing red gauntlet.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare burst! Engage!" Lincoln fired his red curve-tipped star, which exploded out from his gauntlet. Guardian White was hit directly as a large fiery explosion erupted out, he got smashed through the wooden crate breaking it into millions of wooden pieces. This caused the scaffolding and the dozens of paint cans to come crumbling down top of Ben, altogether kicking up a large cloud of smoke.

"Haah… Ough…" Lincoln panted, catching his red curve-tipped star as it came flying back to him. He morphed back to normal and pocketed it. He stood there, but then stared wide-eyed, after beginning to realize that he had gone overboard.

"Ben? Oh no!" the Loud boy rushed right over to try and save his fellow guardian. This friendly sparring session had escalated quickly. He began to move the junk heap aside. It was all heavy, so he had no choice but to move it one piece at a time.

"Hey! Can you hear me?!" Lincoln finally got the last of the junk out of the way as he kicked the last piece of scaffolding away. He was greeted by a blade held to his throat, making him freeze in place.

"I win, dude," Ben had pulled the short knife from his gun and had it to his opponents throat. Lincoln was amazed. The army man was not morphed, but here he lay bloody and bruised, and his left arm dislocated, yet he had not one ounce of care for it.

"…Yeah… You beat me… You're the better Guardian," Lincoln sat down on the ground. Guardian White reattached the short blade to his laser gun before he holstered it.

"That was wicked, though," Ben stated while chuckling. The young boy really did not see it like that.

"I guess it was cool… Even if everything hurts…" Lincoln coughed. Now that the adrenaline in his system was vanishing, he was feeling the horrifying effects of all that pain kick in.

"I wish I could feel pain, bro… That's the only reason I'm a guardian," the relaxed man forcibly popped his dislocated arm back into place without any assistant. That explained a lot to Lincoln. Ben looked rather depressed from knowing he was not picked for any other reason than his lack of pain receptors in his brain. The army wanted the undying soldier, that would not be stopped by simple things such as pain. And they certainly got what they wanted.

"Sorry for stealing the guardian gauntlet. You were more suited for it," Lincoln panted, trying to gain his energy back. Feeling bad for robbing someone better than him of the Guardian Red suit.

"Chill, dude… It's yours now. Why should I care?" Ben asked, "You got anybody waiting for you at the outpost?"

"I do. My daughter Lisa is there for the scientist meeting," Lincoln nodded. He trusted this low IQ man. It was hard to be both idiotic and evil at the same time. As far as he was aware, it was a very hard act to juggle.

"You're a father? Sick luck, man!" Guardian White gave a thumbs up. Lincoln grew a quick blush at what he was implying. It was at this moment, however, that two large blinding lights shined on them, and a row of soldiers appeared.

"Guardian Red! You are under arrest by the USA military! Do not resist and we will not restrain you!" One soldier spoke from a megaphone, while a few others were keeping their hands on their guns, having seen the end of the battle. Ben looked just as confused as his new guardian friend did. Lincoln huffed and nodded in agreement, imagining how badly that Lori, Lynn and Lisa were going to react once they found out that this happened.

"My daughter and sisters are going to kill me..."


	73. Confrontation

**Authors Note: Hi all, I hope you had a good Christmas! For my first Christmas it was excellent, I want you to know I'm working hard to try and get the fic back up to daily updating. But with the hospital trip, the holidays and everything as well as the clean up. I've fallen behind a bit, I apologize. Please enjoy and take care!**

"I have no idea how they found us battling. Guess we should have went a lot farther away for the duel," Lincoln lay on a bench in his prison cell within the basement of the military outpost. He had taken off the top of his orange suit and had it resting underneath his head, acting as a makeshift pillow. His red tie dangled off to the side from his bruised neck and head.

"I know Ben wouldn't set me up like that… He's too nice for that, and he wouldn't have tried half as hard as he did in that fight, if it was just about buying time for the other soldiers to surround me…"

The military group, led by General Eugene, knew he was Guardian Red now, yet they did not bother taking away his guardian gauntlet or his red curve-tipped star that he still had remaining in his pocket. Any of the soldiers on guard looked somewhat afraid of him. They were unsure what to expect from a supposed teenage father, who was a superhero with two other still anonymous guardians on the side as well.

"So this is the town's first guardian?" General Eugene approached the prison cell. The scientists meeting that Lisa was attending was still going, but somehow the military group leader had left the geniuses of Michigan alone to think up ways to counter the Xeran, passive, defensive and or aggressive, any method that would give humanity some help for if the Guardian Project failed.

"I guess so... I'm Lincoln Loud, guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life," Lincoln introduced himself, not bothering to hide it after all a quarter of his squadron had witnessed the fight. Lying was going to just get him in deeper trouble, if he was in danger of any form of incarceration.

"Impressive. A child is the very thing keeping this world from being destroyed… I'd say I'm ashamed of being made a mockery of because of a kid, but the United States already is a mockery. Having a child acting as hero is probably one of the better things we'll be known for… if word gets out," General Eugene sighed. Both he and Lincoln stared at each other from across the very fence keeping them separated. Lincoln had no clue how to feel. He still could not read the situation.

"I'm not in the mood to talk politics, especially with someone who defiled a dead man's work by creating a cheap knockoff," Lincoln was not happy with knowing Vernan's work had been replicated with such poor effort without so much as even the simplest of security measures. He would contest that Ben was stronger, but he would never say that his suit was, too, but as long as Ben was willing to fight for justice, his strength would be welcome, even if the relaxed soldier was unhappy with why he became Guardian White.

"I didn't want to either, little guy. Trust me; you aren't in any trouble for saving the world… though the property damage is the city's business. Why don't the two of us have a personal talk," the general opened the fence after removing the lock. He then motioned for the soldiers to relax. There was no point in being afraid of a hero whose heart was in the right place.

"A personal talk? Fine, I'll come with you, but only because I need to try and distract myself from the pain," Lincoln stepped out of the makeshift prison cell. He was grateful to not be in any form of restraint. The military had been kind to him, but were all worried for their families and the chances of them perishing while they were on deployment, if it had not been for the guardians' intervention they would all be dead indeed.

"Would you like my men to get anything for you? They can go get your daughter, if you'd like? I can safely assume Lisa's the one responsible for finishing the Guardian Project?" Eugene continued. It was not hard to figure out once the identity of the first Guardian was revealed.

"Thanks, but I'll handle her scolding me later," Lincoln sighed. Lisa and the other family member guardians were going to verbally shred him apart for this whole ordeal. He kept mostly silent during the long walk to wherever this military general was leading him to.

"I know she is your sister, and not your daughter. Both of you are the children of Lynn Sr. Do I need to make a phone call to Child Protective Services?" The general offered. By knowing the truth, he wondered if their home life was bad and if they were under abuse from one of their birth parents.

"No way!" Lincoln seemed to have his nerves triggered when hearing that.

"Whoa!" General Eugene was pinned against the wall of the staircase back first. Guardian Red held him by his lapels with a tight grip.

"If you so much as push a single button for CPS's offices on any phone, I will hurt you so bad that no amount of machinery will help you move again! I'll make sure every last bone in your limbs is scattered to dog parks across the country!" Lincoln raged, catching the general by surprise. General Eugene noticed a rainbow variety of essence being pulled from his body and into Lincoln's arms.

"Release the general! Now!" A gunshot rang out, as a bullet ricocheted, hitting his guardian gauntlet. Lincoln pulled back, holding his arm in pain. The bullet did no damage but the impact was still nerve shaking. A terrified soldier stood at the top of the steps, holding a revolver.

"Ease up, soldier. I brought that on myself," General Eugene insisted that everyone calm down, surprisingly he was not angry with the death threat that had just been spoken to his face. The general now knew however to never bring up Child Protective Services around Guardian Red ever again.

"Si-sir! He tried taking your emotions!" The soldier argued, "He's one of them! He's a Xeran in disguise!"

"Excuse me, soldier?" General Eugene put his hand on the hammer of his follower's gun and gently closed it shut, making him lower the weapon. "I am a general for the military! I'm not supposed to have any emotions to begin with! My job is to lead a bunch of idiots to their death while someone bigger than me orders me to lead them! This kids a human, not a monster! He has done far more for this country than any of you soldiers will ever do in your entire life, especially if idiots like you don't know how to follow orders!"

"…did I just steal some of his essence?" Lincoln looked down at his arms in terror. He had only stolen a small amount of the essence from this fellow human being, but that small amount of rainbow colored essence was working its way up his arms, being absorbed into his body once it reached his chest. He felt upset, because if he had stolen too much, the general would have had a slow and untimely death like the many victims of the Xeran. Guardian Red had no idea how he had even done it. His body seemingly had just sucked it out during his rage, as if he was desperate to quell the anger with other emotions.

"Sorry, kid… I know there's a reason for being that little genius's father. I can at least respect a man willing to protect those he loves," General Eugene was quick to move past the incident. The two continued their way upstairs, away from the scared soldier.

"I'm sorry… Our dad can't bond with her. They're too far apart on interests. He doesn't try either, that's the worst part. My heart tells me constantly that she's my daughter. I already raised her this long, and I'm going to keep raising her for as long as I live," Lincoln apologized for the essence theft as the two continued to walk. They came to a stop when they arrived to the general's personal room.

"Children are a scary thing. One mistake could mean your entire life. What they saw you as what they think you are… it all just vanishes so easily," the general closed and locked the door. He went over to a nearby locked suitcase that carried his personal belongings for wherever he went.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Lincoln requested. It seemed like another bunk room for the soldiers to rest. There was a small television off to the side that looked half a decade old. General Eugene retrieved a VHS tape from his suitcase and popped it into the television's built in video tape player, and he hit the play button.

"I wanted to get to know you better. And I wanted to show you what happened to this old war dog to make him half robot," the general declared. The video seemed to be a recording of a remote desert town. The footage was taken from an eye in the sky drone, back before they were common.

"Huh?" Lincoln leaned over to look close at the television. He could see about five small dots on the screen moving toward a large building.

"One of the locals reported that someone matching our spy's description had been kidnapped, by what we suspected as a smaller group of a terrorist organization. We believed they had discovered his true intentions and were planning on executing him. My unit was sent in," the general pointed out the small amount of black dots that were beginning to surround the large building. He took his seat, seeming to grow upset. "We were supposed to move in from all sides in one tight fell swoop, to disallow anything to happen to him. That spy had important information, which the terrorists also knew about."

Lincoln could only watch the screen. There was the sound of radio chatter, recorded by a backup system belonging to the drone. The sound of gunfire began, followed shortly by screaming. Eugene muted the television.

"The factory was full of children workers that they used to help make bombs at a much faster rate. The terrorists told the kids they were going to have a pretend shootout, they gave them cap guns… but we… we didn't know that. We just kept shooting until it stopped," General Eugene looked on the verge of tears. Lincoln could not even imagine the horror of someone tricking children into using toy guns all for the purpose of making the military look bad and plant distrust in the country.

"What happened to your spy? Did you find him?" Lincoln questioned. The older military punched the television, breaking the glass and knocking it off the table and onto the floor.

"We found his head impaled on a spike in a back room, and his body had a C4 strapped to it that was wire rigged to the doors. That is how and why I got this," the general pointed to the various pieces of machinery attached to his spine, "The explosion sent a machete flying into my spine, almost turning me into a vegetable! All I got in return to coming home was a country that now looked like a laughing stock, a purple heart, and a daughter who hated me for having a hand in a single child's death. She hated me more than she ever could. She even hated that she had to feed me daily. Once Vernan came along to help me, my daughter decided to leave without a word."

"…oh… I'm sorry… They really were smart… I keep forgetting that Xeran aren't the only evil in this world. I know humans can be a lot worse sometimes," Lincoln sighed, aware of what it was like. Humans and Xeran were not too far apart in that regard. Lincoln had not yet met a single Xeran that was friendly. "So what do you want from me? …no, I mean, what do you want from the Guardian Project?"

"I want you to know that Ben'll have backup out there on the battlefield. I want to give you guardian's military aid. Nobody likes to risk their sole life savings on a single race horse, but sadly, the Guardians are all we have left, for not just this world, but the next world, and the world after that," General Eugene declared. Lincoln looked down at his guardian gauntlet.

"Xeran alert! I repeat Xeran activity has been reported!" The sound of a loud siren blared, and a soldier sounded over the loudspeaker, "Threat Level 3! I repeat! There is a Xeran threat level 3! All soldiers for level 3! Prepare to backup Guardian White!"

Lincoln instantly stood up, looking to General Eugene for permission to go save the day. Even if his whole body was hurting, Guardian Red had to still get to the front lines to save the day, even if it meant playing as Ben's sidekick or acting as a military lapdog.

"I'll make sure they all know not to get in your way," General Eugene nodded. Lincoln grinned as he opened the door and made a run to get prepared to confront whatever the Xeran race was doing to Royal Woods.

"This so far has been one scary night…"


	74. Pages Brought To Life

"Nice to see you out of jail, broham," Ben drove in a jeep. Lincoln sat in the back seat beside him. Their vehicle was followed by several other jeeps full of soldiers.

"Nice to be out of jail, too," Lincoln sighed. He wished he could change out of his orange suit, but seemingly he was not going to have a chance to until later when he got back home. He looked down at his hands, unable to forget the dreaded revelation that he had almost killed General Eugene by stealing his essence. He was scared by such a thing happening.

"The general and I had a personal talk… I wasn't in really any trouble. I guess he just wanted to make sure I went nowhere so he could get to know me more, to try and find out if I was a threat or not," Lincoln rubbed his guardian gauntlet. His body still hurt from their earlier fight, but he was ready for whatever attacked.

"General Eugene's a rad dude… He fought against me being picked… something about, I dunno, inexperience? But the general kinda treated me like a son," Ben recalled all that time too well. it was an interesting time in his life. Someone had fought for him to not be Guardian White, and the military general at that. Eugene had seen through his immunity to pain and found it immoral to abuse his disability to gain an advantage in war.

"That general just keeps on surprising me. He better take care of Lisa," Lincoln muttered rather bitterly. If Lisa was threatened or harmed in any way, he would be furious. He would make sure that General Eugene paid for it, if he did hurt her at all.

"We're arriving on the Xeran's reported location now. Follow in formation," one of the soldiers in the leading jeep spoke over the radio.

"Got it man, just tell us when it's show time," Ben chuckled, holding his hand up in offer for a high five. Lincoln could not resist. He slapped his hand against his fellow guardian's palm, with a hard, brotherly smack.

"What was that?" Lincoln's ears perked up when he heard the sound of a loud roar, and the sound of screaming from over the radio. The two fellow guardians witnessed the leading jeep go flying into the air, its entire front end crushed.

"Dude! Watch out!" Ben grabbed the steering wheel and took control, pulling the vehicle desperately to the side. The leading jeep passed by them, almost missing them. The first vehicle crashed into another one that had been following them. The soldier behind the wheel slammed on the brakes, making the vehicle come to a halt halfway on the curb.

* * *

"Go make sure they're okay!" Lincoln ordered to the two soldiers as he and Ben climbed out. The uniformed men nodded, going off to help their fellow troops. The two guardians went off to see what had done this with such ease.

"Whoooooa… That's wicked," the laidback soldier gasped.

"That's a dragon!" Lincoln was left speechless, his mouth agape. A brown-scaled dragon stood tall, its wings short and retracted, its two horns prominent on its head, and its blue eyes focused on them. Its four legs stomped the ground, each step leaving behind a foot print in the concrete.

"Okay. I'm going to lose it if I have to fight giant things on a daily basis…" Lincoln was drawing the line, just as he swore to when he fought a gigantic Gamban. The horned dragon had rammed their vehicles away when it had witnessed them presumably charging for it.

"And it looks like bad driver's blocked out the main road," Ben commented. Surely enough the exit road as he pointed out had been blocked by several trucks and other vehicles that people had wrecked in a panic. Most were trying to just get out on foot, but the best routes were unfortunately on the other side of that giant bull dragon.

"Help us! Please!" A young man cried, holding his little daughter who was crying in terror. The dragon breathed out a puff of smoke. Its nostrils flared as it turned to the noise, irritated by the two. Ben quickly took his gun off his side, took aim and shot a white laser, across the way and in the side of the dragon's head.

"Dang… That things sturdy, man," Guardian White commented. He had not made a scratch on its scaled skin, but it had gotten the dragon's attention. The dragon turned to him and lowered itself in preparation to lunge at him, now seeing completely red.

"Mwahahahaha! Welcome my very dear heroes to our story!" Xerarian's voice boomed as he stood completely undisguised, standing upon a surprisingly sturdy trash can. His large book rested under his arm.

"What are you doing?! Make that dragon go back to whatever fairy tale it came!" Lincoln demanded. He figured that this librarian monster had summoned that reptile. On any other day, he would be as giddy as any other person would be to hear that a live dragon had been found, which was not a very poor quality online video recorded from twenty miles away. He would be even giddier if the dragon's presence had nothing to do with the Xeran.

"The pages blew open, and I happened to pour essence into this young dragon's story… Unfortunately for you, these cannot be undone after they are conjured," Xerarian retorted. The bull dragon waited its command from his master to attack. This Xeran Elite was able to summon creatures from fairy tales and control them without a single problem. This was a lot more threatening than his plan to force people to read books to play with their minds.

"Wait… So does that mean if I print a menu from a fancy restaurant, you can, like, make that food real?" Ben looked enticed by the mere thought of food. Lincoln held his head, but he was not able to deny the benefits of being able to just make dinner, just by reading a cook book without any work involved.

"Is he mocking me? Dragon, attack!" Xerarian ordered. One obedient snarl and the dragon leapt forward and charged for them with its wings flapping slightly for a small boost in speed. The two guardians quickly threw themselves to the side, rolling out of the way as the bull dragon crashed into a delivery truck, getting its horns stuck in the side. It struggled to take them back out.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln inserted his red curve-tipped star into his guardian gauntlet and punched his flaming gauntlet into the ground, morphing into Guardian Red.

"Lock in!" he grabbed the front and back of his helmet and clunked it securely into place.

"Let's shift for battle!" Ben spun the back of the electrical sphere attached to his gun, and fired a laser bolt into the air. It exploded, raining its particles down on him, and his white guardian suit shifted onto his body.

"Ready to engage the enemy!" Ben's helmet emitted bursts of steam from the side as the crescent visor slid shut automatically.

"Guardian Red!" Lincoln posed, "Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!"

"Textoth! Come!" Xerarian shouted, as multiple portals opened in the air. Two large elite textoth appeared from it and landed on the ground, one big and bulky and the other very short, only half of Lincoln's size. The young boy knew not to underestimate anything that looked this small.

"White! I'll handle the Xeran Elite! You get the dragon!" Lincoln ordered.

"With pleasure, man," Ben nodded. He just needed to hit harder at the same area until he broke through those tough scales. The two textoth elite created their weapons, one with sharp curve bone spikes along its arms and fists, and the short textoth with bone quills on its back. Guardian White gladly left his guardian cohort to handle the librarian Xeran and his skeletal cohorts. The two textoth elite began to stomp toward him. The bull dragon ripped its horns free, irate and ready to face the white guardian.

* * *

The first textoth elite jumped up, with its spike covered knuckles overhead, to crush Lincoln with them. Guardian Red stepped back, watching the attack miss and hit the ground. Chunks of asphalt shot into the air. The tiny elite textoth then curled into a ball and began to spin on the ground rapidly. It darted at him at lightning speed, and the ball of spikes struck Lincoln, knocking him backwards to the ground and sliding a few feet.

"How can a skeleton be so fast?!" The Loud boy cried in pain. Xerarian was just watching with pleasure. The generals would not trust him with more than just those two elite textoth. He was also just a distraction after all. Therefore, there was no point in giving him a large amount of forces that would just be wiped out mercilessly by the guardians.

"Bring it!" Lincoln got up and readied his clawed gauntlet. The small textoth curled into a ball and bounced backwards. The large textoth caught the miniature skeleton, pulled back, and threw it like a baseball, the tiny textoth elite went flying for him. Lincoln took the hit at full force, electrical smoke burning off him as the small elite textoth spun rapidly against his guardian suit, each bone spike damaging it on impact. Lincoln though refused to let his enemy go.

"You're out!" Guardian Red growled once the small textoth elite stopped its constant spin in his arms. He dunked the skeleton monster on the ground, hearing its pain struck cry before he stabbed it through the back of its head with his claws, breaking its skull into pieces, forcing it to begin disintegrating into dust.

"My brother! No!" the large elite textoth raged towards Lincoln, grabbing a street lamp and ripping it from the ground, planning on using it as a club. Lincoln huffed in frustration.

"This is going to be rough..."


	75. Story Book Brawl

**Authors Note: I apologize for not updating lately dear viewers, but this chapter has been written over 42 times. I am deeply sorry, to top it off I got a partial amputation, from when my foot got ran over by a heavy truck, I lost most of my front left foots toes, either way I'm sorry for being slow and I hope you all have a happy new years! Take care!**

One tremendous whack sent Lincoln flying through a window, the glass clattering around him. The clothing store he had landed in was full of people attempting to hide. Lincoln was terrified enough that a giant dragon was running around, which Ben was doing his best to coral, but the beast simply was tearing up entire sections of buildings or road whenever it charged, despite his best efforts.

Guardian Red felt his leg get grabbed by the spiky arms of the giant textoth elite. It swung him overhead and slammed the young boy onto the ground at full force, cracking it slightly upon collision. He quickly slashed at the giant skeleton monster's hand, causing a small burst of sparks to blast off when breaking a few of the bones. The Xeran skeleton jerked back in pain, holding its damaged hand, trying to quickly replace the destroyed bones, but Lincoln quickly jumped up and grabbed onto its chest, slashing it across the face leaving a large gash from his claws. Guardian Red jumped up and downward slashed the skeleton warrior's entire head and body with one long, flaming sweep.

"Those things were just a waste of essence," Xerarian huffed, watching the textoth elite explode into electrical smoke and turn into dust on the ground. The librarian monster hopped off from the trash can he had been watching the fight from.

"I'm not going to say it again…" The first guardian pointed his clawed gauntlet at him, "Make that dragon go away! Now!"

"You humans are so stubborn. It's almost as mystical as these stories," Xerarian chuckled, opening his book. The pages began to turn at a quick pace, almost as if the wind itself was scrounging for what he was looking for.

"Allow me to bring these pages to life for you… You seem like the type who'd enjoy female company," the Xeran Elite began to pour a rainbow of essence from his hand onto the pages. A bright light appeared in front of Lincoln, blinding him. He went wide eyed at what he saw standing there when his vision returned.

"What?" Guardian Red saw three more creatures, female in appearance. A golden haired harpy stood with a halberd in hand, her wings stretched far, her hair being brown in color. A siren stood behind her with long purple hair, the lack of water doing naught to detour the mermaid's appearance of beauty. Another woman stood with them, clad in silver armor, with a large shield that looked sturdy enough to survive several bombs.

"It appears that he's trying to prey on your male disabilities," Lisa's voice suddenly chimed up from the communicator. Lincoln was greatly relieved to hear the young scientist's voice.

"Lisa! Thank goodness, honey! Are you okay?!" Lincoln requested, before noticing the harpy launch high into the air. He could not believe what he was fighting against right now. He jumped back as the halberd stabbed the ground, barely missing him. She spun around on her halberd while it was impaled on the ground, she kicked him in the helmet, knocking him back a short distance. Guardian Red was terrified to see the multiple female mythical creatures and how they were trying to play on his teenage hormones to make combat awkward for him, even though it did not work.

"I'm fine, dad. General Eugene told me everything that's happening, but we should focus. After all, we have quite the very unique Xeran Elite on our hands…" Lisa stated. Just then, the siren began to sing, her beautiful voice hitting his ears. He was trying to resist, but he could feel his mind trying to give out on him. The heavy armored woman then whacked him with her shield, causing sparks to blast off from his front body upon collision as he got stumbled back in pain.

"Can you call Lynn and Lori for help? These soldiers aren't going to get much done," Lincoln referred to most of the soldiers following his orders by taking on the bull dragon, which so far seemed to not be detoured or affected at all for most of this battle.

"I already sent an emergency distress call out to them. They said they were already on there way," Lisa explained.

"Unsurprisingly, when a dragon appears, word spreads fast, but for now, we need to deal with the creatures individually before we can get to their creator."

"Alright!" Lincoln was glad to hear that the other guardians were on the way. Xerarian was laughing though. The trio of women were so far a scary tandem of warriors. Lincoln still could feel his mind trying to fade on him in attempts to force him to give into the siren's melody.

"Priority orders, take out the Siren, the harpy, and then the warrior… First, let's nullify this mermaid's music," the child prodigy insisted. The gentle toned music that was almost disabling him was suddenly halted as the sound of a loud guitar whine rung out, which formed into rapid playing.

"Hey…! That's the song Luna made for me on my last birthday," Lincoln happily spoke, being saved from the siren's melody by hard rock. The young guardian recognized the music all too well. Luna described it as his theme song. He never knew how to feel about it, since it seemed pretty intense for theme music.

"Let's go!" Guardian Red stretched before launching off, charging at the three monstrous girls with his clawed gauntlet ready.

* * *

"Whoa!" Ben ducked as the bull dragon swiped at him. The sound of machine gun fire rang out as two fellow soldiers of theirs were trying to mow the reptile down, but their bullets bounced off its thick skin and scales. Guardian White was barely hurting the bull dragon at all, and he had arguably the strongest blaster gun currently in existence.

"Guardian White!" Lisa suddenly chimed up from his helmet's communicator, "You need to go all out. This dragon's scales are stronger than tightly compressed Gruynithil. You're going to have to hit it hard and spread out as much of the damage as you can so it can't recover as quickly."

"Whoa! I'm hearing voices now… Guess they weren't kidding when they said that I would go insane as a guardian," The laid back soldier chuckled before firing another blast, watching the dragon receive it to the face. It roared, leaping straight at him in seething fury. Ben got hit head on, the horns digging into his chest as he was launched into the air, a trail of electrical smoke flying off of his body.

"Guardian White!" Several soldiers cried as their leader was harmed like that. Ben hit the ground nearby, coughing. It did not hurt one bit, a depressing feeling for him to know. When he stood up, the young man realized that his suit had been quite heavily damaged from this.

"I'm not a voice in your head! I'm Lisa Loud, the lead and the only inventor for the Guardian Project! I was granted access into your helmet's communication device so you can hear me! Just follow my advice, and you'll get an advantage over this dragon! As much as science implores me to preserve rare specimens for studying, this one is too hostile to be permitted to live," Lisa elaborated to the very relaxed individual. He tried to think for a second as he watched a soldier get bashed away by the bull dragon.

"You want me to spread the damage? I have something I love using, but the general gets mad at me whenever I use it, because it takes away my gun's power," The young man grabbed the back of his gun, taking the electrical sphere off of it and chucking it in the air, just over the big horned dragon.

"Funky Brawl! Engage!" Guardian White fired the last laser, hitting the sphere. It began to glow bright as it absorbed it, while it stayed afloat in the air, until it shot out a couple dozen lasers from it like a disco ball on a dance floor. The dragon began to let out cries of agony, feeling each rapid hit. The bull dragon could not move or escape without it getting hurt. The lasers were surrounding him like a terrible storm, or a constantly shifting cage.

"Let's dance, dude!" Ben took out the knife from the front of his gun, watching it lengthen slightly. He began to dash through the lasers, leaping and spinning through them like it was nothing simpler than getting past a crowded location.

Guardian White began to slash and hack away at the dragon. It tried to attack him by swinging one of its claws, but he blocked it. The lasers were still cutting apart the dragon. Ben slashed the dragon across the face, cutting its left eye wide open and destroying it. The dragon stumbled back as he began to tear its neck apart. The dragon could not handle the constant barrage. Its body was catching on fire, as smoke was spewing out of its flesh.

* * *

"This is horrible… How are they able to take on mythical creatures like they're every day bugs?!" Xerarian was in awe at the two guardians fighting, and so far seemingly winning. Lincoln was dealing with the three female fighters on his own, and it was getting frustrating by their triple triad of threatening strength.

"Lisa, the priority plan isn't working!" Guardian Red said while blocking the harpy's halberd. The siren swept him off his feet with a swing of her tail, sending him down onto the ground. He barely had any chance to react before the large shield from the warrior mistress crushed him. He felt his bones rattle from the hit alone.

"Well I'm sorry, I didn't anticipate there combat abilities," Lisa apologized. Suddenly a sharp blue aura of light hit the side of the harpy, knocking her back away from him with sparks blasting off their body. A familiar fist punched away the siren and shield wielding knight, getting them off him.

"Huh? Lynn! Lori!" Lincoln stood up immediately upon seeing his two sisters already morphed into their guardian suits. He tightly hugged them both with a bright smile.

"Sorry for being late! Lisa brought us up to speed," Lynn apologized. Traffic was a nightmare, so they had no choice but to run all the way here from their divided locations. She was more amazed at the mythical creatures from various fairy tales that she was witnessing before them.

"So we're now guardians working under the military?" Lori questioned, aware that their little brother had spilled the truth, whether he wanted to or not. There was no need in getting worked up over it when it was already done either.

"Sorry, and no. It's more like working with them," Lincoln rubbed his sore side, "Can you help me get that guy's book? He's protecting it, and I think it's what he makes the monsters from."

"Let's do it then!" Lori drew her sword. Lynn bashed her guardian knuckles together. The trio of female enemy warriors stood up to face the guardians. Though the large fight was being watched from far, by one shield wielding individual.

"When you fall...I'll be there to take your heart, Xerarian."


	76. Injured

**Authors Note: Hi all, I wanted to say that I hope you all have a happy new years! I hope you've been enjoying my story too, take it easy all!**

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst! Engage!" Lincoln aimed for the siren and fired his red curve-tipped star from his gauntlet, watching it spin out engulfed in flames. The mermaid girl instinctively ducked and held her head. His attack however was blocked by the shield wielding warrior, his red star bouncing off after leaving a nasty scorch mark in her defenses.

"That's the third time she's done that!" Lincoln put his red curve-tipped star into his gauntlet to make sure he stayed morphed. Every time guardian Red was about to finish off his opponent, one of the other enemies his sisters had been fighting, would be able to break out of combat to save one another. The trio of maidens were professional with defensive measures, or at least very dedicated to protecting each other.

"Lincoln! Stop stressing your system! By burning up so much essence, you've made yourself unable to handle using another finisher again, or else. I'm worried internal injuries will set in," Lisa ordered for him to calm down. She was astonished that he had managed to pull off the finishing move not just two times, but three times in near consecutive back to back uses.

"We're never going to get near that book at this rate…!" Lincoln replied, frustrated.

"Sorry, Linc! She blinded me to escape our fight," Lynn was getting irritated, just like him. The shield mistress had used her shield to reflect the sunlight directly into Guardian Blacks eyes. The visor acted like sunglasses, but it did have its limits.

"Fine. Let's break through it all at once then! Together!" Lori declared as the two Loud sisters removed their stars. Xerarian was terrified, desperately trying to find another creature to summon, but so far the pages held nothing but worthless tiny monsters that would be easily bested. Like blobs of harmless slime.

"Guardian finishers!" They all shouted simultaneously, Lincoln ignoring Lisa's plight not to use his finisher again. He thought he could handle the stress one more time. His gauntlet began to fill with his burning red essence.

"Star Striker!"

"Blitz Blade!"

"Flare Burst!"

"Engage!"

Lynn and Lincoln's stars fired straight for the trio of female warriors on guard. The combined hits were being blocked, until Lori threw a slash of her scatter, empowered by her blitz blade, which engulfed both stars and helped them break through, shattering the shield and the halberd. An explosion erupted, and the three mythical warriors were sent flying in separate directions covered in scorch marks, bruises and flesh wounds, as they landed in the near area, unconscious.

"No! No! They can't all be defeated!" Xerarian was in disbelief. The siren, the harpy and the shield mistress were all down for the count. The bull dragon also lay in defeat with a drained Guardian White beside him, making sure that the reptile had no secret tricks under its scales.

"And now it's your turn!" Lincoln stepped up after catching his blazing red star. However he could not react. Sparks randomly began blasting off his body. He began screaming in pain, falling onto his back.

"Lincoln?!" Lynn put her black star away, as she morphed out of Guardian mode, she crouched down beside him. Her agonized brotherly boyfriend morphed back to normal as well.

"Dad overdid it! By using his finisher so much, he stressed his body and accordingly, his vitals before morphing out of guardian mode indicate… internal… internal bleeding! You need to finish this fight! Now!" Lisa begged with a lot of worry in her voice. Lori glared at the librarian Xeran Elite.

"Take care of him! I'll finish this," the oldest Loud picked up Lincoln's red curve-tipped star and tapped the side of her helmet to open it up. She inserted his star into it first, the opening closing momentarily before opening once more. The red star had vanished. Lori then took her three-tipped blue star off of her sword and inserted it into the opening, the helmet closing. She was then surrounded by bright red and blue essence.

"I'll make sure it's fast, too."

Lori began to morph into Guardian Violet, her sword turning into a slightly curved katana.

"Guardian Violet! Shinobi Mode! Guardian of the essence that unlocks inner peace within all life!" Guardian Violet announced as an explosion of purple smoke erupted from both in front of her, and behind her. When Xerarian saw no sign of her, he looked terrified.

"You won't survive for long, after I summon a hydra!" Xerarian was about to begin casting another summon spell from the book. But then the ninja guardian appeared in front of him and snatched the book from his grasp.

"Sorry, but this book's going to the trash," Lori threw the book in the air and slashing it thrice, tearing it to pieces and causing the pages to scatter everywhere in the wind. The essence sphere flew out from the pages and clattered on the ground.

"Ahh! N-no way!" Xerarian received a kick to the stomach, making him stumble back. She did not notice that his monster body was slowly beginning to vanish, starting with his legs, turning back to normal. The adrenaline was driving her, and the determination to save her brother's life forced her hand.

"Guardian Finisher! Illusion blade! Engage!" Guardian Violet had both her three-tipped blue star attached to her katana, and Lincoln's red curve-tipped star attached to the other side of the hilt. Her sword began to glow with a bright blue and bright red flaming aura that blazed intensely, as she twirled it a few times.

"No!" Xerarian put up his guard as the katana swung for him. It vanished on contact, much to his confusion. His back suddenly exploded into a burst of electrical smoke. He looked over his shoulder to see the furious Lori behind him.

Guardian Violet kept doing this attack, vanishing and hitting him from a completely different side each time. There was no way for him to predict any of her attacks. The final blow was dealt when she slashed her blade through his entire lower body. Once she got to the other side, she stopped. The smoke and fog began to clear out. She turned to face the monster as she retracted her sword back into its compact form, and put it on her side.

"What the…?" Lisa viewed on screen that Xerarian was on his hands and knees, his monstrous body completely vanishing. He was now the very bald man he once was. He had been separated from the object that kept him as a Xeran. His half broken glasses clattered to the ground, snapping in two.

"… ! Oh gosh," Lori was mortified. She and Lisa both began to wonder if he had been unfortunate like her when she almost became a Xeran Elite herself, if it had not been for BelGaner's oddly very kind agreement of a bet that he surprisingly kept his end of the bargain up for.

"Did I just…?" Guardian Blue looked down at her trembling hands as she morphed back to normal, the two stars in her grip. Lynn was only able to stare, wide-eyed, while holding the half conscious Lincoln in her arms. Lynn noticed that despite the book being destroyed and the monster defeated, none of the mythical creatures or beings were vanishing either.

"Hahahah… You think you murdered an innocent man?" Xerarian coughed up blood. His body was covered in sword wounds, each mark looking more terrifying than the last. He was holding his stomach to try and hold his intestines from falling out. Lori could only stare in terror while listening to the bald librarian, her body frozen with fear and guilt.

"You only killed a mere coward… I took my chances and lived a longer life… but I had to kill so many from my own dimension for it… let alone the entire world, then the world after that, and then the world after that…" The bald former Xeran Elite was quickly losing consciousness, beginning to lose his life force. Essence began to pour out from his body in a rainbow of colors, floating off into the air to be absorbed by nature most likely.

"I had no qualms about what I did. I murdered my wife, my son, my daughter, my parents, even my own grandchildren… I kept their stories with me in that book… But just as all stories must come to an end, this appears to be the last page of mine," Xerarian collapsed face first onto the ground, "I always was afraid for my book closing… Don't allow this world's story to end."

Lori witnessed him slowly begin to turn into dust. Lynn had no words for this. The soldiers were coming to try and help out everyone injured. The mythical creatures though still remained.

* * *

"Dude… What just happened?" Ben questioned from afar, the bull dragon letting out a slight whine as it weakly moved its head. It had survived all of the combined attacks from Guardian White. Yet here it was still lying there, critically injured, but alive.

"W…wha?! Watch out!" Ben noticed a shimmer of light suddenly coming from a nearby rooftop. He ran over to Lori, he swiftly grabbed her and threw her aside. As soon as he got in the way, his body exploded into a large burst of bright energy. He was engulfed in the explosion. Everyone was mortified as they saw a strange new figure leap from the rooftop, landing feet first to the ground and kicking up leftover rubble.

"So he has died… How pathetic," Shedun approached with his diamond shield on his arm. He had fired a large blast of energy in an attempt to assassinate one of the guardians while they were no longer morphed.

"Lori! Snap out of it! We need to morph again!" Lynn tried to get her attention. Lincoln lay limp in her arms, barely conscious. He just wanted to stand up right now and punch Shedun in the face, but this time his body was not going to fight. His stomach was filling with blood more and more with each passing second.

"I… can't, Lynn… I've got nothing left in me…" Lori weakly said, looking mentally shattered at the thought of murdering someone, despite Xerarian's final wishes and declaration that he deserved it.

"I am Shedun, the general of the prison," Shedun introduced himself to the guardians, "What you did was kill a poor fool that I had sentenced to death at your hands."

"Ben! Guardian White! Do you copy?!" Lisa tried to speak through Guardian White's communicator. He lay in a puddle of his own blood, his guardian suit completely destroyed. Only his human body remained, with helmet fragments on his head.

"Oh, for the love of Earth! I can't just leave Lincoln and you here like this either!" Lynn gritted her teeth. Her siblings were both in no state to fight, and she could not just go running in to the fight, it would do nothing. As Shedun approached, however, he was hit by a flurry of machine gun fire from behind, the sparks blasting off his body with some smoke, but the monster seemed to be unfazed.

"Don't you go near them!" one soldier stood behind him, his weapon drawn. Another military personnel pulled out two grenades, quickly pulling both pins off and throwing the small explosives at the monster. Shedun put up his diamond shield as the grenades exploded immediately upon contact, the impact shoving him back slightly.

"They've risked their lives just to keep the world going!" They opened fire upon the smoke cloud with a volley of gunfire, not letting up the pressure of the assault.

"Even if it was just for another day, our families are alive because of them! We'll throw ourselves away before we even let you get near them!" another soldier shouted with her fellow comrades. The smoke began to clear, and Shedun was there on one knee, mildly stunned by the combination of constant attacking.

"Wuh?" Lynn saw a jeep come to a screeching halt in front of the guardians. Three soldiers got out and quickly went over.

"Get in! We've been ordered to evacuate you all! You guardians have done more than enough for us. It's our turn to do something for you," one of the soldiers said, as they helped get Lincoln, Lori and Ben all into the jeep. Lynn was relieved to see people willing to help out, that were aware of their constant hard work despite their shortcomings.

"You guardians can run… Killing you would have been a nice bonus to my goal here," Shedun snarled, watching the jeep speed away from the battle. The general averted his gaze to Xerarian's essence sphere on the ground. He grabbed it and kept it tight in his grip, he had come for it and now was in for a sparring session it seemed.

"Before I turn this over to BelGaner… Let me show you soldiers how moronic you are for wasting your lives for children," the diamond shielded monster stood up, his shield shimmering in the light. The soldiers did not back down though. They were ready to fight on the destroyed area. The dragon lay still, as did the three mythical unconscious ladies.

"For the guardians!"


	77. Recovery

**Authors Note: I wanted to thank you all again, for this great first year I've been on this website. I'm so happy that both of my stories have made it onto tvtropes, I hope you all enjoy!**

Lisa hurriedly followed General Eugene, who took her to the most professional hospital in Royal Woods, famous for their grand treatments. The place's medical staffs were enlisted by the military for their services. Most of the doctors and nurses were former soldiers, and they were more than glad to help the world through medicine instead of fighting.

"This is a nightmare. The first day the guardian project unifies with the military, and things go off the rails," General Eugene said as the two entered the hospital.

"I am very appreciative of your cooperation with us, General…" Lisa entered the fourth floor with him, and she saw Lynn sitting alone in the waiting room, looking mentally exhausted.

"Lynn!" Lisa ran straight up to her oldest sister and hugged her. The sporty Loud appreciated all the reassurances she could get with how stressful things had become, despite the medical staff's reassurances that everything would be alright.

"Hey, Lisa… I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help them," Lynn felt horrible for being next to useless. When things became life threatening, all Guardian Black had been able to do was protect them and make sure they would not get harmed further.

"It's not your fault… I suppose the Xeran have a new General now," Lisa was hoping that the majesty's Generals would only be four, considering what they had heard Teronzata ramble about, but now there was a fifth General, from seemingly nowhere.

"Is dad going to be okay?"

"They said he should be fine, but they're worried about him being stressed too much," Lynn explained. She agreed with the doctors worries for the Loud boy's stress, despite his constant joy. The stress of battle was guaranteed to be a pressing problem that would drive anyone to the brink of insanity, especially if they had to keep entering that battlefield.

"What about Ben?" General Eugene requested. He was informed by the young scientist that Guardian White had been gravely wounded, and his suit almost obliterated, in an effort to save Lori.

"Ben's in the intensive care unit," Lynn answered, still upset over this event, and for many reasons, "The nurses said it looked a lot worse than it actually was. His suit took the blast for him when he saved Lori's life. He would be nothing but dust if it wasn't for the suit."

"That poor guy… And Lincoln is still being treated as we speak…" Lisa shook her head. Those two guys were in such dreaded situations that it hurt thinking about it, "Is Lori also okay?"

Lynn was just as unhappy to be answering that. Their eldest sister had almost died in the confusion of that blast. "No… but a psychologist came by and noticed her symptoms, he decided to talk with her."

"Oh… she would definitely require the aid after what happened…" Lisa stated disappointedly, aware of Lori's weak mental state. Despite all she had been through, there were still some things that were just too shocking to handle for the oldest Loud that she needed a psychologist for it. Murdering an innocent man was one of them.

"My men did their best for you. I'm glad to know I was able to recruit the most trustworthy, loyal soldiers a General could ask for," Eugene stated. Hopefully when the troops gathered tonight, they could be thanked for their efforts in some manner, if they survived their battle with Shedun.

"Thank you, General Eugene," Lisa turned to him, "I'm glad to know that the government is aware of the world's only hope and are willing to support it… I swear, I'll repair Guardian White and get him back on his feet, and I'll make sure his guardian suit is fully finished, instead of a shoddy prototype. But I need another essence sphere I only have one and it already is currently being used in the other suit that I'm working on."

"I'm honored to be working with the guardians, Lisa… I'll get you an essence sphere. Just let me go make a few phone calls to my superiors," General Eugene bowed and left the waiting area. He knew the two sisters wanted to wait for their only brother's surgery results.

"What are we going to tell the others, Lisa? He's going to have a scar on his stomach from this surgery, and he'll probably need to take a break from his hero duties," Lynn questioned. Lincoln would require time away from his guardian duties. No matter how determined his mind was to be a hero, his body was not.

"…We tell them the truth, that Lincoln got attacked by a monster. Wrong place, wrong time." Lisa exhaled, not caring to press her brain for a better lie. Her second father would most likely agree that this was the best plan of action.

"His operation is completed," they heard from a nurse standing there in blue work scrubs.

"Is dad alright?" Lisa begged, both she and Lynn worried for him.

"Yes. The surgery went off without a hitch, he should be waking up soon in room 403," the nurse stated. The two Loud sisters thanked the nurse, both happy to hear this. They rushed off immediately to go see Lincoln.

* * *

"Shedun…" BelGaner stood and watched as essence filled the wireframe monster cages where the essence spheres resided. Shedun was back in the eldritch realm to meet with him. "What became of our distraction?"

The General of the prison presented the majesty's heart that once belonged to Xerarian, the mechanical Xeran General took it.

"He fell to the guardians, but did a decent job in wounding them. I gravely wounded one of them as well. We should have plenty of time now," Shedun viewed the wire frame monsters. One had four essence spheres in it, and the other two had three essence spheres in them. He watched as BelGaner filled the new heart up to the brim with essence, before chunking it into the middle wire frame, giving it a total of five majesty's hearts.

"Excellent. Hopefully, we won't need to send out any more of the prisoners. We can just wait for these three to be completed," BelGaner said happily. The three Xeran Elites in production were going to be the strongest force the Xeran will have ever created. Shedun still did not agree with using this many hearts on three creatures. It could only end so poorly.

"I do have some strange news, though. Xerarian's monsters, the creatures he created to fight for him, have all been apprehended. They should have vanished when he was defeated," Shedun explained as he was leaving the battlefield, he had witnessed soldiers capturing the harpy, the siren and shield mistress, and perhaps even the bull dragon as well. Shedun had not been able to do much harm to the enemy military forces, they had kept on throwing grenades throughout most of the fight, which had forced him to retreat.

"Really? Of course, they should no longer exist… we Xeran are supposed to be the most unique strongest race in all of existence, yet we have so many problems and so many mysteries about ourselves," BelGaner shook his head and began to walk away to leave the textoth and Shedun with the wire frame creatures. The General of the prison swore that he could see a lot of similarities between these new monsters and the guardians.

* * *

Lincoln lay in the hospital bed. Lynn, Lori and Lisa were with him, bringing him up to speed on everything that happened while he was unconscious. Guardian red looked saddened to hear that he was not going to be allowed to act as hero for a short time.

"So a new General attacked, and Xerarian turned human when his book got destroyed before he died…" Lincoln had a headache. He was unable to wrap his head around everything. He now had a lot of stitches across his stomach with multiple IVs hooked up to his arm.

"I'm glad we're all safe though," Lincoln picked up the surprised Lisa from beside his hospital bed and pulled her into a hug.

"You had us terrified dad…" the child prodigy returned his hug, aware that he had been worried for her being harassed by the military once they found out that she was the lead inventor of the guardian project. Yet the exact opposite happened.

"It's a mess… Our newest guardian had gone down when he had barely just started," Lori commented. Ben could not morph into Guardian White anymore. His suit was nothing more beyond helmet fragments. Now it was up to Lisa to repair his suit while she worked on her other suit.

"We'll work hard to get him back to work. Don't worry, Ben is very resilient after all," Lynn reassured, though only Lincoln knew about Guardian White's immunity to feeling anything, pain especially. He looked at the clock that struck two in the morning.

"Sorry to interrupt," General Eugene caught their attention from the doorway of the room, holding a metal briefcase.

"Hey, General Eugene. How did I do for my first official military deployment?" Lincoln laughed jokingly before coughing lightly, laughing hurt his stomach slightly but he would live.

"Probably the bravest war hero I've ever seen, son… Here, Lisa… this was delivered post haste for you. There is also a decent sum of Gruynithil waiting for you in my truck at the parking lot," Eugene declared. Lisa took the briefcase, and she and the other siblings looked as she opened it up. Her eyes went wide as they all stared in shock.

"Yo-you're giving us all these?!" Lori was astonished. Inside the briefcase were six essence spheres, each one spiraling with its own captured essence.

"General, you're really trusting us with everything here…" Lynn murmured, "Do you really believe in us that strongly?"

"I believe in you all, as much as I believe in fighting for this great world we inhabit. The guardians have the government's support," General Eugene assured, "But of course, there are still going to be people who refuse to believe in anything that is going on here, and that would make things harder for you."

"Thank your men for me, General. They kept my family safe," Lincoln then gained a salute in reply from the military General.

"Don't worry. This time, little Lisa, we're prepared to give you whatever you need to help with the creation of the guardian suits," Eugene added. Lisa hopped off the medical bed, keeping the silver case with her.

"We have a lot to discuss. I need a long list of requirements to bet met, for this to go at the most maximum processing rate. I will need assistance from other scientists as well," the child prodigy began her long list aloud for the General to hopefully make mental documentation of it all. Lincoln felt his girlfriend kiss his cheek, relieved that he was safe and sound.

"I love you guys… I just hate to know you have to pick up my slack now," the lone Loud boy sighed while looking down at his guardian gauntlet with his red curve-tipped star in his hand.

"Don't worry we'd do anything for you!"

"Just leave it to us!"

The two sisters hugged him. He had been fighting from the very start. The situation he was in now was just a good excuse for him to take it easy. Lincoln's bright smile quickly returned.

"The Xeran don't stand a chance against us… as long as I have you guys with me."


	78. White Slumber

The night was far from calm for the guardians. Once Lori made the phone call to their parents with the news that their only son had been attacked by a Xeran monster, the Loud parents sounded devastated. Although they soon calmed down, the rest of the family was going to go mental that Lincoln even interacted with these monsters. The lie that the oldest Loud had used was that Lincoln had gotten hurt when protecting a young child. Their family bought it very easily, the only reason they calmed down was because their son had not died after an hour, like most of the Xerans unfortunate victims.

"I'm tired, my stomach is sore, yet I can't get any sleep," Lincoln mentally mused to himself, as he lay in his hospital bed. Lynn was laid next to his left side while Lisa was nuzzled into him on his right. The medical bed was big enough for the three of them. Lori was asleep on a nearby sofa with a thin blanket covering her up. The rest of the Loud family would be coming early in the morning, he was not looking forward to that visit. But the young boy was going to be happy no matter what, since his family was still safe and sound thanks to all the Guardians efforts yesterday.

"It's raining really badly now… They said the weather was supposed to be bad tonight, but I didn't expect it to be this bad," Lincoln thought while looking to the window. The heavy rain blew against the fourth floor window, the raindrops pattering against the glass before sliding down and leaving a small wet trail behind them, like mother nature herself was crying.

"Maybe I should go check up on Ben…" he decided. General Eugene was the only family Ben had, and the general was forcibly recalled to the military outpost to check up on the casualties and damage report to his troops. Ben was most likely alone during this dark heavy storm of a night, in his own hospital room.

In a few minutes, Lincoln managed the very hard task of unhooking his IV and heart monitor, before getting out of his hospital bed, without waking Lisa or Lynn from their deep sleep. Guardian Red began to wander off into the dimly lit hospital to go find his fellow guardian. There weren't many workers active tonight on this floor. There were only so many staff members, but the doctors and nurses of the fourth floor had to go to the emergency room to help out the others, since another vehicular pile up occurred on the freeway. Sadly it was all too common, only difference in each accident was the size.

* * *

"Ben? You up?" Lincoln reached the door for Room 413. There he could see Guardian White covered heavily in bandaging, seated at a small table in his recovery room and staring out at the rainy night.

"Sup, little dude?" Ben greeted him half heartedly. His head was half covered in bandages, so much so that only one eye was visible through his messy hair.

"I came to check on you. Are you holding up okay?" Lincoln took a seat beside him at the table, averting his attention to the same rainy environment outside the window with him.

"I dunno, my heroic brother… I've just been thinking a lot since I woke up," the relaxed soldier had barely moved from this spot since he had awoken. The two guardians could feel a sense of calmness during this storm just by looking at it through the window.

"What is it you've been thinking about?" Lincoln hoped he was not having doubts about Lisa's ability to repair and improve his Guardian White suit to its fullest strength. She had to confiscate his special guardian gear due to the extensive damage it had suffered, though Lisa had confessed to the fact she was very fascinated with the gun's technology.

"'Bout my mom and pops… They always talked about feelings, you know? Dad was blind, but he heard the world instead of seeing it, and mom ran the best family restaurant that made the most delicious of foods," Ben was beginning to fade back into his own memories of his youth and childhood.

"They sound like great people… Are they…?" Lincoln was too hesitant to ask directly. It would be horrible to know if his fellow guardian had lost their parents at such a young age.

"They were great… but pops got cut up trying to save a woman being ganged up on by some stinkin' drunks. He didn't survive the surgery that followed. Mom's still cooking, but she became so paranoid about people stealing her recipes that she… she disowned me, she was so afraid she didn't trust me even," Ben shook his head. It was sad how badly a family could fall apart just from one member within it passing on.

"Geez… I'm sorry to hear… they sounded like great people before things went bad," Lincoln gave his condolences. The relaxed soldier chuckled.

"Feeling… it's sad I never could feel anything. I couldn't feel the warmth of food in my stomach. I couldn't feel fear… _pain_ … or even love… My parents never knew about my problem, I was great at acting. But now, I don't think I can go on, knowing that I've lived a lie of a life, and that I was picked because the military knew that lie," Guardian White started coughing after his speech. Lincoln did not get a chance to reassure his friend that he was perfect for the Guardian position, but they heard someone else speak up.

"Excuse me. Are you… Guardian White?" A voice sounded, and the two guardians looked over. A middle aged man stood at the doorway, in a doctor's coat with slick back orange hair.

"Yeah, dude… can I help you?" Ben replied as the two guardians got up. Only one of them had their identities exposed to the public currently.

"I'm Liam Porez. I'm an oncologist for the child's wing of the hospital. Now look, I'm going to cut straight to the point. I want Guardian White to come meet the children, because they need a spirit boost," Liam explained as the guardians gladly listened.

"Oncologist…?" Lincoln quirked an eyebrow, "You mean you're a cancer specialist?"

"That's right," Liam nodded.

"I'm sorry, dude, but I can't," Ben apologized.

"Why not?" Liam was saddened, starting to beg on his hands and knees, "I know it's horrible to impose on you like this, but please, I'll do anything. I'll cover all your medical expenses. But these children need the motivation boost. They need to see that there is hope for themselves and the world."

"One promising patient of mine in recovery told me this morning that...She'd rather be dead, then to go back to a monster filled world." The doctor bit his lip, just remembering the young patients words had upset him, clearly. When he heard that the well known Guardian White was admitted to their hospital, he had to come make a request for the meeting. For the sake of the children.

"I'm sorry man, but I'm not able to morph… My guardian suit's been completely totaled," Ben apologized. He would gladly do it, especially for children, but in this situation, he did not have a choice.

"What if I go meet them?" Lincoln spoke up.

"Eh?" The oncologist stood up, "What do you mean?"

Lincoln presented his red curve-tipped star and put it into his guardian gauntlet. "I'm Guardian Red… I know if either of my two daughters were undergoing chemotherapy, I'd be very grateful if they got to meet one of the worlds heroes. Guardian Mode! Engage!"

Without hesitation, he quickly morphed into Guardian Red, right before the very doctor's eyes. He knew Lisa would be furious with him for morphing when he needed to not put any strain on his body, but it was for charity, he was not going to pass up on a chance to raise other individuals spirits, in such dire times.

"Wh-what?! Someone so young as a guardian…? And with two daughters?" Liam looked a bit overwhelmed and far too confused at the moment. Guardian Red chuckled, helping him off the floor.

"Come on. Let's go make some children smile," Lincoln reached up for the front and back of his helmet before hearing it clunk securely into place. The oncologist gratefully nodded, heading off to lead Guardian Red upstairs.

"Thanks, broham," Ben smiled.

"Don't worry about it, Ben. I'll see you later," Guardian Red bid him goodnight and left the room, the door closing behind him. The only light now remaining in the room was from the flashes of lightning crashing in the sky outside the window. After a short, silent moment, Guardian White went over to his nearby bag, beginning to rummage through it for something.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, bro… but I think this is the end for me. I don't have anything waiting for me anymore beyond my body giving out on me," Ben began to sat back down at his table, resting a small box on top of it. "I never thought I'd get any use out of this stupid service weapon…"

Guardian White began to open the box, to reveal a glock with a silencer lying beneath it. He began to screw it onto the barrel of the gun with a smile on his face.

"Soon, I'll be able to feel everything. The world needs heroes who have emotion, right? The world needs heroes who can feel," Ben rested the gun aside, while talking to himself. He pulled out a pen and began to write away upon the top of the table to leave his final words. Once he finished writing what he wished to have written down as his will and testament, the relaxed soldier picked up his gun and stood up from the table.

"I hate to leave the burden to you too, guardians. And you better not blame them for it, old man Eugene…" Ben locked his hospital room's door and went to the window, staring out as the thunder flashed, the rain continuing to pour heavily. He raised the gun up to the side of his head, and placed his finger on the trigger.

"Good luck, guardians. I'm sorry, broham," he slowly began to pull the trigger.

"Good bye..."


	79. Duplicates

Lincoln left the children's wing of the hospital, holding his sore stomach. Liam, the very oncologist who had enlisted his help for raising moral, was beside him.

"Thank you so much again for doing that. I know you just got out of surgery, maybe only five hours ago," the cancer specialist thanked him again. Once they were in a part of the many hallways where no one else resided, the teenage Loud morphed back to normal before putting his red curve-tipped star away.

"I'll live… It felt great to just see so many people happy," Lincoln claimed while stepping toward a vending machine. Unfortunately he had forgotten his wallet, which was still with his clothing back in his room of the hospital, though the doctor was nice enough to give him a few dollars. It was the least he could do as gratitude.

"You really put up with a lot for someone your age. A lot of the children I treat try to be brave in the face of death, but you're literally standing on the grim reaper's front porch and playing ding dong ditch," Liam put it in the best analogy like terms he could when complimenting him. Guardian Red took a sip from his soda, unsure how to feel about those words.

"Trust me; I didn't go out of my way to be Guardian Red. I stole the suit when people were in danger, and nobody else could help them…" Lincoln responded. Saving lives the only thing he could do his best to try and succeed at, though he was just thankful to have many supporting his cause, with the extra dimensional war going on between the world and the Xeran race, he needed the support desperately.

"And you're sure there isn't anything I can do to make it up to you? I can cover your medical expenses. It wouldn't even scratch my bank account," the oncologist offered as the two were seated in a pair of chairs, trying to rest after their stressful days. Both knew from each other that one was exhausted from fighting to protect lives, and the other was tired from fighting to save lives.

"I'd appreciate it… My family has a bit of a tighter budget than most," Guardian Red laughed. His family survived perfectly fine on what income they did have. Their parents were well paid too at that, but that was just how they handled life.

"Doctor Porez, you have a package," a nurse walked up from down the hallway, carrying a small box addressed to the doctor. Liam raised an eyebrow. He got gifts often from patients who were thankful for how much he helped them, whether or not they were destined to an inevitably untimely death or a long path to recovery.

"What is it?" Lincoln questioned. As the nurse left, the oncologist opened the box and pulled out a hardcover thick book.

"Oh, hey! I know what this is," Liam viewed the cover of the book, "I had the first book in my office… It's a two-part story based on an ancient inspiring tale about a man being as weak as vines, trying to master swordsmanship. The hard covers are very rare and hard to find. The last book ended off with the main character being trapped in a jungle after being outcast by the kingdom, only for some strange spirit in the forest to offer him natures strength."

"Vines? Swordsmanship?" Guardian Red choked on his soda slightly, which made him go into a coughing fit. He calmed down, taking in a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry… What is this man's name?"

Liam looked happy to talk about the books at any length, though the young boy was tired of books after fighting Xerarian.

"Teronzata Wilds, the Eighth."

The answer shocked the lone Loud boy, but after a few moments of pondering, he realized that he should perhaps not be so surprised after all. Every dimension should have the same people born there respectively. What they did was the main difference of the worlds. Lincoln guessed if Teronzata came from one dimension and was once a human prior, then he must have had a very similar counterpart inside their world as well. The time period of age did not matter, since Xeran did not seem to be bothered much by father time's antics. He then guessed though that the Teronzata this book was based on was long gone.

"I know I said you didn't have to do anything to pay me back if you didn't want to… But can I maybe talk to you about giving me that book?" Lincoln requested. The oncologist turned over the book without any hesitation.

"Sure! As sad as it might sound, I read the whole two books combined online anyway, so this gift is kind of useless to me… besides, like I tell my patients when they're cured, I hope to never see them again," Liam gladly replied. The comment on never seeing patients again was a joke most of the doctors in this hospital made for patients that underwent tough medical treatments. The middle Loud child understood it easily, as nobody wanted to come back to hospitals, not in even a century if they could help it.

"Thank you so much, Doctor Liam!" Lincoln exclaimed, "This is more important than you can imagine."

The two were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a loudspeaker and an alarm going off that was used only for high priority emergencies.

"Requesting all available help to room 413! Patient has suffered self inflicted GSW to the head!" a doctor called for help over the speakers. Lincoln stood up after immediately hearing that room number.

"Something happened to Ben!? What does GSW mean?" Guardian Red pleaded for the oncologist to tell him what this hospital code meant. Liam looked hesitant and emotionally shaken to his core from imagining any of the guardians doing such a thing.

"GSW means… gunshot wound," Liam declared. Lincoln felt his heart sink to his stomach. He quickly turned on his heels and ran off down the hall, straight for the stairwell. He was mentally screaming at himself for leaving Ben alone like he had done. Imagining Guardian White being shot in the head was mortifying the young Loud and making his mind race in erratic patterns.

* * *

"…No…" Lincoln could barely stand in room 413. No one was there, and neither was the medical bed. They had rushed Ben off for emergency brain surgery. He could see the scene before him. Blood was splattered on the wall and floor, and the gun lay on the floor. Half a pile of medical supplies, which had been used in attempts to save Ben's life, were sprawled on the floor.

"I was barely gone for twenty minutes… what happened?!" Lincoln asked himself, horrified. The youngest guardian looked at the table where some of the blood was spilled, and he could see writing on it. The first half of it was readable alone, but the rest was bloodstained.

 ** _"I'm sorry it had to come to this. But I'm not able to be the best hero this world has to offer. You have a world to pick from of people who can protect it better. People who can feel emotions instead of me, where I'm nothing but a worthless husk. Thank you, General Eugene, for taking care of me the best you could."_**

Lincoln looked down, wiping some of the blood away with his hand so he could see the rest of the writing. He was trying his best not to cry, but his heart felt torn apart.

 _ **"And to the little dude, the bright red hero we all look to. When we need comfort and support, he will always gladly give it to us. I want Lincoln Loud to choose my successor. The new Guardian White will be decided by him. Please respect my final desires."**_

Lincoln's fingers gripped into the side of the written table.

"H…how could you do this, Ben? We really needed you! Do I really have to choose a replacement for you? Does everyone now think I can handle everything?!" Guardian Red raised his leg up and stomped the table in half, cracking it in two. He kicked one half of it across the room. "I'm just a kid! Is there no one else on Earth able to handle themselves? Do I have to keep fighting when everyone around me is about to give up so easily?!"

Lincoln fell onto the floor, holding his stomach in pain. All he could do was reside in that spot with just another burden on his shoulders that he had to deal with in due time, the stress made him feel like he was being tortured with hot skewers. The book about Teronzata rested alongside him.

* * *

"Skree!" The cries of textoth sounded as about five of them were sent flying through one of the walls of the eldritch castle by a small burst of fire. Despite its size, it was as powerful as a high pressure explosion. Shedun bounced away another fireball that had been thrown at him thanks to his diamond shield, the ball blew apart another wall however.

"Someone get in here and help me restrain her! Now!" The general of the prison roared before he was engulfed in a torrent of fire. All the half jawed monster could do is crouch behind his diamond shield.

"Let… me… out!" a higher pitched voice shrieked from inside one of the three cages. The peculiarly similar figure sported long white hair, an orange coat and blue dress pants. Even if she was still trapped inside the wire framing, there was still much more essence that clearly needed to be absorbed.

"Type 2 ammo, fire."

Guardian Red's duplicate suddenly had her arms and body frozen. Only her head was not encased in ice. BelGaner stood at the doorway, viewing the practically destroyed room. Shedun stood up, shaking his head as he looked at his diamond shield that would need cleaning later.

"I told you five hearts were too many for this! These creatures are abominations! Why would you replicate the Guardians?! Why create duplicates who may become nothing more but extra family members for them… especially a duplicate of Guardian Red?!" Shedun demanded, angrily looking at her. This indeed was a duplicate of Lincoln, but her gender was the exact opposite. She was wildly biting at the ice with her teeth, which were surprisingly as sharp as a dog's.

"Be quiet… Unlike you, I can actually articulate and converse before any form of fighting," the general of strategy approached and poked his flintlock revolver at the female Xeran human hybrid's forehead. She did not react to this gesture and just continued to bite away at the ice containing her.

"I only made these replicas, because they were what were in the red star child's memories… He may not be able to have his essence stolen, but what he fires out with that finishing move could easily be taken. It let us into his memories with such ease," BelGaner explained. The only reason these Xeran hybrid monsters were like this, was because they were familiar to Lincoln himself. At some point in the past few years of his life, he had experienced an odd alternate dimension where he was a girl, and all of his sisters were boys instead.

"Creating more family for him is not our wisest decision. You would risk the majesty's life for this? What if they betray us because of the familiarity?" Shedun questioned. BelGaner laughed, shaking his head. These three creatures being made, would make any fighting hopefully harder for the Guardians. It was hard to hurt family after all.

"There's no chance of that… These creatures are filled to the brim with every emotion available. You can already tell that this one desires strongly for destruction. If I recall right, the red star's memories classified her as 'Linka'," BelGaner reassured there would be no harm done to them. He cited it as one of the most clever plans he had ever fabricated, if not the most elaborate in general.

"Now then… Linka, you cannot leave that framing yet… if you do, you will simply begin to slowly turn into dust. Your body is nowhere near completed, not as of yet," the general of strategy explained, watching the female version of Guardian Red take in a deep breath. Shedun quickly got in front of the mechanical general, putting up his shield as another wave of fire was blasted at them.

"Thank you, Shedun… perhaps she is still incapable of coherent thought, or she is still learning speech," BelGaner assumed that Linka's mind was just underdeveloped like an infant. The harsh savagery certainly made her appear like a Xeran toddler throwing a terrible temper tantrum.

"I'll repeat myself, Linka… If you do break out of your holding there, you will turn to dust. The most you can do to speed up this process is to be patient and not destroy everything in your proximity, you will be complete in a few days, as well as your brothers." BelGaner repeated his request. There was no undoing this life to try again. If he allowed Linka to die, it would cost them a grand volume of essence, and they simply could not lose that.

"You're now assigned to watching over these three. Be careful, though… she should not have been able to acquire a physical form this quickly. I fear we may have a lot more trouble on our hands when her brothers are spawned, even if one will remind me of Larissa..." the general of strategy left the general of the prison alone in the room with the remaining terrified textoth. Shedun shook his head, watching as the long-haired Guardian Red clone just sank her fiery fangs into the ice block.

"The things I do for my freedom…"


	80. Teronzatas Story?

**Authors Note: Hi all, thanks again for all the support, I cannot believe we're at 80 chapters and 40k views. We are going to near the end soon, but not too soon, either way I hope you enjoy and take care!**

It had been four days since the hospital incident. It was a traumatic time. Ben was said to have had suffered major brain damage, and it had left the former Guardian White in a coma. The doctors had done their best and tried to convince General Eugene that it would be a lot better if he simply turned off life support, but the general insisted that he would give the relaxed soldier a chance to recover.

Lincoln was currently outside of a fast food joint, called the Burger Blasters, which had an odd slogan about obliterating taste buds. He did not mind being here, but if it was up to him, he would be with Lisa in her new laboratory to help her finish the two guardian suits. Instead, he had been dragged here.

"So you have no idea who to make Guardian White?" Clyde sat at a table outside beside his brotherly friend. The red guardian was resting his head on the table, staring at his guardian gauntlet. Ben's attempted suicide had shattered his joyous aura. It would come back once he was able to start battling again, but until then, he lost all motivation to do anything.

"No… I don't even want to, in fact. I shouldn't be allowed to choose. How does the military work with picking out the most promising people, anyway?" Lincoln reached into his backpack nearby him and pulled out the book about Teronzata. He had read this book a dozen times in the span of these last few days. His suspicions on who the book was written about were correct. His main issue now was what to do with the information.

"Don't look at me. I'm not a fan of guns," Ronnie Anne carried a tray with all their food on it, she rested it on the table, before taking a seat across from them. She was waiting for her specific Guardian suit to be completed. She was chosen to bear the second suit that Lisa was working on now.

"I still can't understand half of the book, but the pieces I can put together fit the puzzle of Teronzata all too well," Lincoln stated. He could not to continue talking any further about who would become Guardian White, without saddening himself further. Clyde wanted to volunteer, but unfortunately he was not up to it. He would be shot down instantly despite his offers. He was just not brave enough for the role as hero.

"You mean that plant that never shuts up about being the best swordsman?" Ronnie Anne had seen Teronzata on the news several times, like everyone else had. The general of defense kept on repeating that he was the best swordsman in existence, so much so that it seemed like he was desperate not to forget it half the time. The plant monster always acted like he was somehow confused.

"That's the one. He seems to have memory problems. A lot of the majesty's generals do. It's like they can only focus on one thing or else they forget who they are. Zeggfor with his blood lust, Mirayu with her obsession for beauty… really, only BelGaner and that Shedun guy seem like normal people," Lincoln explained. They had no clue if the majesty was any similar. He presented the book, laying it open on the table for them to read the first page.

 _ **"The swordsman had nowhere to reside. His kingdom was no longer a home for him. All that was left was the harsh forest that he had been banished to. He had found a sword from a past fallen warrior, and he had spent months out in those woods until one fateful encounter gave him his second chance."**_

Clyde turned to the next to continue reading. They were perhaps halfway through the second book from where Lincoln was having them read off of.

 _ **"A living tree that had tales always told about it to children. The demon of the forest, Melikami. He wandered the woods, hunting for those lost to feast on their souls, as the tales told. Teronzata was able to fend off this monster time and time again. But finally, after many encounters, he was able to best it. He had fought against nature these last few months, practicing his swordsmanship had given him the perfect advantage. But upon defeat the monster dropped an odd jewel that was presumed to be its heart. Teronzata took it as proof of his victory, and he went back to the kingdom of Janquil to prove his worth to the king."**_

They just kept on flipping the pages, skimming it over to get to the key points that Lincoln was pointing out to them.

 _ **"But just when Teronzata had made his return, the kingdom of Janquil was under attack by anomalous monsters. It was a nightmare no one could believe in, but they fought their best. The kingdom's armies slowly began to fall. Teronzata did his best to do battle, but it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by these odd creatures who wielded terrifying weapons, sharp enough to shred anyone's bodies. Witnessing King Janquil himself fall was too much for Teronzata to handle. He allowed himself to be ravaged by blades, but he believed he had redeemed himself, even if it was his last actions before death."**_

"Man oh man… that's depressing…" Clyde coughed. The story supposedly was written by a descendant of one of the survivors of the kingdom of Janquil, who had just gone off what he had been told for generations throughout his family. But irritatingly, when Lincoln investigated the author, in hopes of finding some information out, it turned out the author had published the book under the alias of 'Frank West'.

"I'm guessing whatever world the monster Teronzata came from, had a lot happier of an outcome," Ronnie Anne said, guessing that the world the sword wielding mandrake hailed from had a more joyous outcome. How exactly he became the plant monster was still confusing to Lincoln.

"I've talked about it with the others, and Lori wants to bring it up to him when they meet again…" The middle Loud boy then took a bite from a cheeseburger, having a headache from recalling that conversation. Lynn and Lisa wanted to brush it all aside and just ignore it, but Lori could simply not ignore the information about the very man who had possessed her and forced her into learning swordplay.

"Why would she want to do that?" the Santiago girl scoffed, "What will talking about a book with an idiotic monster do?

"I gotta agree with Ronnie Anne. It doesn't sound smart. He might just take the chance to stab Lori if she gets close," Clyde worriedly theorized. Their best friend seemed to ponder on why Lori would do this.

"I guess she wants to do this for the same reason I wanted to talk to BelGaner about this 'Larissa' girl. Because I want to know the truth, and I know they'd want their memories restored," Lincoln explained. He knew Lynn and Lisa would gladly help out. But he was still partially lost in his own thoughts. "The majesty's generals were all human at some point after all. Maybe even the majesty himself. I want to get to the bottom of it all, and I know Lori wants the same thing."

"You handle it how you think it should be handled… Say, how've things been at home?" Ronnie Anne wondered. She knew that Lincoln had not been allowed to do nearly any Guardian work, and he was most likely being smothered by his family after the whole lie that he had been attacked by a Xeran monster.

"Everyone's trying to wait on me hand and foot. Really, I can't do anything without someone coming up to try and do it for me… though having priority for the bathroom line is nice," Lincoln explained. His family was just trying to take care of him. That was just how his sisters were, to go overboard to make sure their only brother was alright, since he always worked hard to make sure they too were alright.

"It just shows how much they love you," Clyde claimed, reassuring him it would all be fine. It was for his secrecy as a hero.

"Yeah… It's nice to at least get to spend some time relaxing with my daughters," Lincoln replied, referring to Lisa and Lily. His two best friends looked to one another, confused, but did not care to go into further inquiry. His family was all around strange, but it was a good type of strange.

"Luna's concert is tomorrow night, so I at least have that to look forward to. But every day that goes by without Xeran activity, I feel a little more paranoid," the middle Loud child confessed his fears. Royal Woods was now being famously known as the city in Michigan to have many oddities happening. Having a living dragon, a mermaid, a harpy, and an ancient warrior mistress captured and on exhibit there, especially earned it that reputation.

"I know that feeling too well, Lame-o. I haven't felt safe at all since I had that freaky skeleton thing living in my house with me. Just try to relax. How long until Lisa finishes the suits? Having an entire personal staff working under her must be speeding things along," Ronnie Anne requested. She was eager to go beating up on monsters either out of pitiful revenge, or self regret for allowing one to nearly harm her brother. The Santiago girl did still believe that she and Lincoln had a chance of getting back together, but every time she tried to talk to him it just became an intense argument.

"You guys are basically military leaders now," Clyde chuckled, impressed at how much his friend had accomplished before he was even eighteen years old.

"You could say that… Lisa brings the suits home every night so she can make sure they're safe, and go over personal stuff…" Lincoln nodded, "From what she's had us help with, they should be next to done. Guardian White's suit just needs its helmet upgraded, and the second suit still needs a weapon."

After elaborating from what little he knew about the suits' progress, Lincoln then looked down at his watch.

"Ten minutes 'til six…! I need to get going. Lisa will be home soon, and I'm sure my family'll get worked up if I stay out too long," Guardian Red got up. His phone was on silent because he would get nothing but constant calls and texts, which could drive him up a metaphorical wall.

"You take it easy, man," Clyde insisted, letting him go on.

"See you around, Lame-o. Call me when my suit's ready," Ronnie Anne waved. She wanted to have a talk with him personally, but every time they did, it erupted into a volatile fight that she would lose.

"Thanks, you guys! Hope to see you at the concert tomorrow!" Lincoln waved goodbye before he ran off in the opposite direction to get back home. It would soon be nightfall. The Santiago girl looked irritated, though, and Clyde quickly recognized why upon looking at a small receipt on the food tray.

"…He didn't leave his part of the cash for the bill."

* * *

Lisa was on the long walk home, as the buses would not arrive like they did not have a schedule to follow. She had waited at the bus stop for an hour, and neither of the buses arrived on their designated time. She walked down a long suburban neighborhood, carrying a large silver briefcase under her arm.

"Hm?" Lisa stopped in her tracks when she suddenly heard the sound of bushes moving, and as she anticipated, she saw about three textoth surround her in moments. They had been hiding in the surrounding area, waiting to catch her out like this.

"Skree-ke-ke-ke," the textoth approached her. Lisa pulled a small weapon out from her side that looked to be a tiny pistol with a big hand grip, the head of the weapon having a small part pulled back. It was instead made to fire tiny syringes that had something odd on the back of them.

"I'd advise running away, if you value your essence," Lisa adjusted her glasses. The textoth began to cackle at her threats, mocking what appeared to be her toy.

"Suit yourselves," the super genius child fired three quick shots, each needle embedding itself into each textoth's chests. At first, they had no effect on them, but suddenly the textoth all had their chests glowing bright red, and they began to feel a burning pain. The three of them panicked and screeched.

"My humblest apologies. This is designed to super heat bones until they melt. Quite ingenious, really… and since you're living skeletons, I'd like to consider you all good test subjects," Lisa stated with a smirk on her face. The textoth were not able to keep formed. They fell over, their cries of pain becoming quieter as their bodies melted, until they eventually turned to nothing but liquid glop, with minor traces of dust left behind.

"I'd classify this as a success," Lisa put her weapon away. Suddenly an explosion erupted around her, she screamed in pain, falling flat onto her side. As the smoke cleared, the silver case being sent flying into a nearby bush, she began to see something approaching. The figure resembled her brother so much that it confused her, the only difference was their hair and movement when they walked. The person began to turn into a large Xeran monster, leaving a few flame embers behind her as she transformed. Lisa gasped, dropping the weapon on the ground, but the Xeran looked uninterested in it, it did not care about the briefcase either. It was only interested in capturing her.

"You're coming with me…Honey."


	81. Missing

Lincoln had arrived home barely minutes ago, just when the streetlights outside had turned themselves on. By the time he arrived hastily back to his house, he was tired.

"Lincoln! There you are!" He heard Luan. She stood there, having heard the door open. The comedic Loud hugged him, worried sick despite his reassurances that he was in good condition.

"Hey, Luan. I'm sorry for being late," the middle child returned the hug, "I got caught up with my friends."

"We tried texting and calling you to check up on you. Did your phone die?" the braces wearing girl wondered if he had just forgotten to charge his phone before going anywhere today. He broke their embrace and began to go toward the garage.

"Sorry, I was ignoring the calls and texts. They were getting annoying," Lincoln did not hesitate to honestly declare. It left Luan standing there shocked, though she understood why he would ignore them. They all were trying to help him and make sure he was alright at once, usually. She brushed it aside, letting him go do what he wanted, since he seemed to not want to be bothered.

"Hey Lisa! I'm back… Huh?" Guardian Red looked around in confusion. The garage was empty, the place where Lisa basically lived and slept in until someone carried her to bed once she fell asleep from exhaustion. There was no one there, and no sign that anyone had used the garage today.

"Linc! How'd things go today?" he felt Lynn's pair of arms wrap around him from behind. He lightly laughed, seeing her standing there after having decided to give him a surprise. Guardian Red turned around to Guardian Black, and he brushed some of her messy hair aside before kissing her straight on the lips.

"It went fine… Where's Lisa? I wanted to check on the progress with the suits and help her out," Lincoln claimed, while seeing Lori enter the garage, carrying a recently awoken Lily in her arms.

"We thought she'd be coming home with you," Lynn replied, becoming just as confused as he was.

"She called earlier saying she was leaving the outpost about an hour ago…" Lori claimed. Their only brother began to grow a look of concern. He gave the book about Teronzata to Lori to let her carry it, before he took out his cellphone and began to look for a certain application.

"Seriously? You have that track cellphone via numbers app?" Lori was a bit baffled with that revelation. Lincoln rolled his eyes.

"Don't pretend that you don't have it. You've used it a lot on Bobby to make sure he wasn't cheating on you, remember?" Lincoln retorted. Lori stayed quiet, looking embarrassed. She put Lily down to let her go play in the living room.

"She's on 2910 Spencer Street. That's on the way from the outpost… but that's a lot longer of a way home when you can just take a bus," Guardian Red already could feel red flags being set off in his head. He put his cellphone away.

"Grab your Guardian gear. We're heading out to check on Lisa."

"We're on it," Lynn replied, she and Lori nodding. It was better to be safe than sorry. The two rushed off to go grab their items.

"Please let this be nothing more than me being paranoid…" Lincoln was quietly pondering to himself.

* * *

After half an hour and one long run, the Guardian Louds had arrived to their location. They could see nothing but the moonlight illuminating the darkness alongside the street lamps.

"Skree?"

"Ssh!" Lincoln instantly motioned them all to be quiet, as they followed a short distance along a small fence. They noticed two textoth looking around, seeming confused. Looking like they had come back to try and find something one of them lost. Lori pulled out her sword, she and Lincoln began to sneak up on the two skeleton warriors. The oldest Loud impaled one through the back of the head with her sword, destroying its skull instantly.

"Skreek!" the second textoth squealed in terror as Lincoln grabbed it by the throat, and pinned it against the side wall of the house. In only a matter of seconds, he was beginning to absorb essence from the skeleton monster that began to let out its random cries for mercy. Lincoln was not even aware that he was doing it. He was just infuriated from imagining Lisa being hunted by these Xeran monsters.

"Lincoln?!" Lynn gasped. After a short few seconds, the then limp textoth began to turn into dust. Lincoln had stolen all of the skeleton monster's essence, the very thing that created it and kept it alive. He tossed the disintegrating monster aside.

"I… I don't know how either. I just started doing it on accident. Whenever I get really angry, I start taking essence from whatever I touch…" Lincoln declared. Neither Lori nor Lynn knew what to say to this horrid development.

"Look! It's Lisa's phone," Lynn had found the object barely sticking out from the grass. Otherwise it would have been never found. She picked up the phone, concerned.

"There's a bunch of scorch marks too… And that new invention Lisa showed us this morning," Lori claimed, looking at the part of the sidewalk that looked to have been blasted by a small eruption of fire, but it was not a natural one. There was no reason for one to break out on a sidewalk that didn't even have a street lamp on it.

"No…" Lincoln found something in the bushes that was reflecting a dim light into his eyes. He reached in and pulled out the silver briefcase, the one Lisa always used to carry the two guardian suits. Guardian Red saw the suits and few documents inside, all intact and unharmed.

"What do you think it means?" Lori questioned. The Xeran did not know who Lisa was at all. They had no reason to go attacking a random little girl. They had a priority list, in which they preferred to steal essence from adults that were not too old. They could at least be relieved from knowing that much, but this time it seemed to be an exception.

"They stole my daughter… They took her… I'm going to find whatever essence sucking monster did this and make sure they regret even thinking about doing this!" Lincoln gritted his teeth. Lori and Lynn could not deny that indeed this time it seemed to be the Xeran's doing. No random kidnappers would be this crazy or leave this much evidence behind.

"If the Xeran are starting to kidnap children, then maybe it was just bad luck that they randomly got Lisa…" Lynn theorized.

"It can't be bad luck," Lincoln took the silver briefcase, gripping the handle tightly, "There's a reason textoth were crawling around. They wanted her. They came back to make sure they didn't miss anything important. Those throwaway goons are slow in every way, but their leader's smart..."

"You should go home, Lincoln. You need all the rest you can get. Me and Lynn can handle finding her," Lori reassured. Guardian Red looked down at his red curve-tipped star as he held it in his hand, his guardian gauntlet remaining tightly secured on that same arm.

"Yeah, bro! You can trust us with this… Why don't you give us your star? That way we have you fighting there alongside us… in a sense," Lynn held her hands out. The lone Loud boy could not help but gain a small smile from their reassurances.

"Here you go," he gave his red curve-tipped star over to his sisterly girlfriend.

"Thanks, Linc," Lynn said, but seeing his shaking hand was upsetting to her and their other sister.

"You get those suits home. Everyone's obsessed with taking care of you right now, so I doubt that they'll notice us being gone," Lori explained her plan. The guardian trio seemed to agree without any hesitation.

"Alright… just please, save my daughter," Lincoln begged.

"We will. She'll be fine, and without even a single hair on her head harmed," Lynn reassured. The group thus separated into two. Their leader headed back home while the others went to find their second youngest sister.

"Xeran… whatever you're planning this time, I'll make sure you suffer for it…" the Loud boy looked down at his hand, noticing an essence of rainbow variety colors spiraling up his arm, as if it was trying to pour out of him. He focused momentarily, and he absorbed it completely. He felt some oddities in his chest, but he paid it little mind.

"I'll steal all of this Xeran Elite's essence, and use it to fight for good!"


	82. Moms Love?

"Mhff! Mhuu! Mhfhh!"

Lisa did not know where she was at. She was blindfolded, bound and gagged. Even during her transportation the glasses fell off and broke along the way, essentially blinding her. From what little she could make out, she was being held captive in a rundown building that used to be a mall, whose repairs and remodeling had been put on indefinite hold.

"Bu-but but boss! I'm sorry!" a slack toned voice rung out.

"Shut up! All I said was carry her! C-A-R-R-Y! You idiots couldn't even do that! And she slaughtered half of you! You had no plan at all! All you did was hurt her!" a female voice spoke up, followed by broken bones, and then a few cries of pain that were soon silenced.

"Mhmm?" the child prodigy saw a blurred set of colors walking toward her. The gag was removed and a pair of glasses was shoved on her face, which actually made her vision a lot worse.

"Those no good? Well, I stole a lot while getting essence for my breakfast," that female voice sighed as she took the glasses, crushing them with her palm and chucking them aside. She then shoved the next pair onto Lisa, one pair of spectacles after another, until the right ones were found, which appeared to be the type of glasses a librarian would wear. The child prodigy felt ashamed when they seemed to be working best out of all of them.

"Huh? What are…? Lincoln… why are you dressed like this?" Lisa confusedly saw Linka standing before her, and the remains of a brutally mauled elite textoth turning to dust behind her.

"Lincoln? Don't be silly, sweetheart. That's my twin. My name's Linka," Linka corrected. Despite the kind motherly behavior, Lisa could feel nothing but pure anger radiating from the teenage girls body. Lincoln may draw his strength from anger, but he had a lot more control over it than this female clone did. She was only good at disguising it.

"You're involved with the Xeran, so frankly, I'm sick of our newly forged acquaintanceship already," Lisa said, looking straight faced. She felt the clone's hand on her head stroking her hair.

"Shh… sweetie, I'm not involved with the Xeran. I was born, thanks to them, and my twin's memories. They gave me my body, the essence and majesty's hearts gave me my life," Linka reached up and put a hand to her chest, gripping it. She had the look of sad emptiness on her face. Lisa felt concerned and more confused.

"But… I'm missing the very thing to complete me. The essence of a guardian. That very strange essence that they cannot have taken from them. It's so unique, and what little I've tasted… what little I've FELT, it is soooo good that I want an unending supply of it! It'd make all five of my hearts feel even better! Guardian essence feels so much stronger than the Majesty's essence ever could alone!" Linka was getting very excited at the premise of stealing her twin's essence. Lisa was more than aware that there was no peace to be had here. As long as Xeran were involved, the Guardians would not give any essence up to them.

"Can I just ask why you're so fascinated with us? I understand you're a… I suppose, a genetic mutation of a Xeran monster, that can disguise yourself quite impressively, but you act like a toddler just learning about the world," Lisa was glad that seemingly her second father's clone was being kind to her.

"Disguise? This is my natural form! You got a peek of my Xeran body, but don't worry. I only bring that out when I'm really upset. I have another surprise to show when the time is right. To answer your question, though, I just want Lincoln's essence. Nothing more and nothing less. My brothers will want the same when they're fully completed, too." Linka hummed. The child prodigy scoffed at the answer. That was so vague that it seemed practically dodging to any real answer.

"You want my dad's essence so you can feel complete? I won't deny. I am immensely fascinated by you… A hybrid of a human and a Xeran… normally the Xeran monsters are created from humans emotions, or they were humans given monstrous forms," Lisa confessed to her. This was maybe one biological oddity standing before her that might have many differences, as the child of two races from completely different worlds, rather than just the one.

"Complete? But Lisa, dear, I already am complete… Didn't you hear me before? I want it because it felt sooo good. I love you Lisa, I wouldn't have hurt you if I didn't need you to get my twin brother here," the long white haired girl exclaimed, still not dropping the motherly style of treatment. It was scary how good this copy of Lincoln was.

"I'm just the bait designated to lure out my father just so you can kill him for his essence? I don't regret informing you that you will be slaughtered like any other Xeran if you try to engage against the Guardians," Lisa warned the hybrid twin. Linka just giggled, her sharp teeth showing with a few embers coming off of her breath whenever she exhaled.

"Kill? Come on… that'd be much too heartless of me! I couldn't hurt something so great! I want his essence all to myself! …But I would leave enough in him, so he would survive, and then I'd bring him the essence of weaker humans and force it into him, only to then take it out again! I'd have that glorious feeling in all of my hearts, forever! I want it! I want it so badly! Hahahaha!" Linka began to laugh hysterically.

Lisa felt terrified. This female clone had a method to steal the Guardians' essence, somehow and someway, but it was not something that could be done in a moment's notice obviously. From what Lisa could guess, whatever this technique was to take the essence that the Louds for some reason could not have stolen, it would take maybe days to get done, and somewhere in Royal Woods, the textoth were most likely getting everything prepared for the Xeran hybrids twin.

"I have full confidence in my dad. No matter how nicely you talk to me, you'll never be my sister, my niece, or my mother. Even if I die, there are many more who know how to produce Guardian suits. I'm now as expendable as an ink pen," Lisa sadly stated. Linka did not seem to even pay her statement any mind. The child prodigy could only stare at the floor, wishing that were completely true. Yet only she could replicate Vernan's high quality Guardian Suits.

"Lincoln… Please be cautious…"

* * *

"Goo goo!" Lily happily cooed as Lincoln fed her mashed potatoes for dinner. He was trying to just stay calm. The silver briefcase lay beside him, he had no intention of letting it leave his side.

"Heh… is it good?" Lincoln laughed as he wiped some of the mess off of her face. He found it hard to be in any bad mood whenever the little blonde haired baby was happy.

"Hey, bro. How goes it?" Luna chimed up. This was the fifth sister to come check on the young boy by lying about coming to the kitchen for something to eat. He was able to pick up on it all very easily, but he did not mind, though their parents already checked up on him plenty of times.

"I could be better, Luna… You ready for your concert tomorrow?" Lincoln replied while taking Lily out of her high chair and putting her down, before he took the plate and spoon to the sink to begin washing them.

"You know it! I'm going to hit 'em hard! I've made some new songs, but I'm going to use the best first!" Luna declared. She wanted to make tomorrow night the night she made her mark on the world of music. That spirit the rocker Loud had was perfect and full of energy, ready to explode on stage.

"Wow… you're really excited. Is that the one I've heard you practicing?" Lincoln heard that guitar being strummed and its chords being broken for the last few days for hours on end. She would only stop playing when her hands were too tired to go on.

"Sorry little bro, but no one's heard this song. Not one note or lyric. I've only been practicing it at my 'special' spot," Luna apologized. She loved to let everyone know of her song and let her family act as a personal audience for the music she made, but this time she had been rehearsing it alone.

"I can't wait to hear it! I'm just glad you're opening with it and not making everyone wait for it to be last," the lone Loud boy felt more excited. The whole save the best for last metaphor tended to be worthless when someone was about to perform their first ever big performance. First impressions were everything.

"You know I wouldn't waste a beat, bro!" Luna picked Lincoln up into a tight hug. He did his best not to let out any painful grunts. His body was somehow becoming sturdier, yet more sensitive with every battle. It was starting to concern him. Guardian Red wondered if he just needed time to recover more. Luna then put him down.

"Speaking of family… have you seen Lisa, Lori or Lynn? They missed their dinner and no one has seen them for a few hours now."

Lincoln mentally cursed himself mainly, because he felt so worthless when not on the battlefield or helping find one of the two he treated as his own children

"Lisa got caught up working on an experiment and said she'd be back when it was safely dismantled… Lori and Lynn are helping her," Lincoln lied, making it out to be as if the very invention of said experiment was nothing more than a scary robot that needed assembly and disassembly whenever it was tested. Luna hated whenever a dangerous experiment was being tested. It did nothing but made her worry more.

"Alright… I'll let mom and dad know. You chill out bro and lemme know if I can do anything for you," Luna messed up his hair slightly before going off. The Loud boy breathed out a sigh of relief.

"So this is what covering for others feels like. Usually they're covering for me," Lincoln found it kind of ironic in a sense. The only thing he could think to do right now would be to go help around the house, if there was anything left to help with, while mentally wishing the best of luck to his guardian sisters.

"Please let Lisa be safe…"


	83. Custody Demands

**Authors Note: To thank you all for 40k views, and soon to be 600 reviews, I stayed up all night to get you a second chapter made! I hope you enjoy!**

The next day began, with no sign of Lisa to be found beyond what had been discovered at the kidnapping scene. Lori and Lynn were both very apologetic to their brother. They had spent the entire night out searching for Lisa, and had come home empty-handed. Lincoln was in a flurry of emotions. He had not rested one bit last night. Worry had kept him awake. Therefore, he did what he thought Lisa would be doing, and continue to work on the two guardian suits.

"The house is empty today… It feels a lot emptier than it should be…" Lincoln muttered to himself. He was in the garage, staring at the two suits laid out before him as he continued to work away on trying to finish Guardian White's helmet upgrade. He was not as smart as the child prodigy, but the documents in the briefcase more or less were a very helpful guide, full of her personal notes.

"I understand Guardian Red, it's been a nightmarish week for us all," General Eugene spoke. He was requested by Lincoln to come over, since the whole family had gone out. Lynn had an important baseball game to attend, and Lori wanted to celebrate her one year anniversary with Bobby. Lincoln told them to not worry about it, they had lives to lead after all, but it did not stop his sisters from repeatedly apologizing.

"I'm still sorry for what happened to Ben, general. I don't know if it'd be right for me to pick his successor. I don't even-ow!" Guardian Red jerked his hand back in pain, having accidentally singed it with the blowtorch. He shook it off and continued to work away on the helmet, not letting tiny wounds bother him.

"It's my fault for not fighting hard enough to prevent him from becoming Guardian White… His final message makes so much sense, but it still leaves a rotten taste in my throat," Eugene commented. Ben was still on life support and fighting for his life during his coma. The general swore to give the relaxed soldier five years to recover. If he did not awaken after that time, then he would cut life support off.

"I'm guessing even after what he did, you still went to wrangle up the top soldiers for me to check?" Guardian Red guessed, aware that they needed all the guardians they could get. The young boy had the essence spheres the General had given them hidden away in a lot more of a secretive location, that gave far more safety than even the hidden wall panel in the garage would offer.

"Their files are right here. I did the hard work and narrowed it down for you to five candidates," the military leader laid out the folders for him. Lincoln brushed them off the workbench.

"I'll worry about them once the suit's done," Lincoln bitterly replied. He could not avoid making a decision forever, but he gladly would as long as he could. Somebody had to be decided to be the successor for Ben.

"I'm sorry again for the burden you've been given. No man or woman in this world as young as you should have to worry about the fate of humanity," General Eugene exclaimed. It was not just the stress of their world, but all the worlds and other dimensions after this one, which the Xeran would just continue to assault until there was nothing left.

"Lisa and I talked a bit about dimension four. They beat the Xeran, so who knows what they're like now. Lisa wanted to look into a way to try and communicate with the other dimensions, because she thinks that dimension four has heroes of their own who might be willing to help us… somehow," Lincoln explained it to the best of his ability. All the science talk with Lisa gave him a headache to just recall. Getting in contact with another dimension entirely sounded ridiculous, even more so if they were planning to try and get help from that dimension.

"It does make sense, and after everything I've witnessed, I think it is possible… Lincoln, you know the boys down at the outpost's lab would be glad to help you work on the suits, right?" General Eugene for once referred to the Loud boy by his actual name instead of calling him by his guardian color.

"Sorry general, but for all I know, one of your men could be a Xeran in disguise that took Lisa… I'm not taking any risks," Lincoln declared, understandably paranoid over the matter. General Eugene then placed something in front of him, a weird white circle pin with an outer silver coating. He looked it over. "What's this?"

"Vernan made this a while back. It's supposed to show the primary essence your body most contains. Most of me and my men use these to make sure Xeran don't sabotage us at all. The device only registers essence within the body, but it won't pick up essence being forced into it or from one of those spheres," General Eugene explained. Lincoln was rather impressed. The security in this sounded impressive. He knew he was being given one for his safety.

"I can't be surprised with that," Guardian Red shook his head when he attached the essence checker to his shirt. It showed a bright red color. The most essence he had was anger. The device showed so, as it was the largest amount of essence circulating in his body.

"Sheesh, son… For someone with anger as your prominent essence, you are in very good control of it," Eugene complimented. Lincoln didn't pay the compliment much mind. He did have no choice but to keep it in check and to release it on the battlefield, knowing he could go wild against the Xeran helped a lot with his anger control.

"Here… There's some more of the pins for your entire family to have, just to be safe…" General Eugene put a small box full of the essence checking pins down on the table, just enough for the entire Loud family. "I'm going to head on back to the outpost. Contact me when you're ready or need help."

"Alright, general. I'll see you later," Lincoln bid him goodbye as the military leader left. Lincoln tiredly continued to work alone on the suits, unwilling to quit working anytime soon.

* * *

Three hours passed, and Guardian Red kept working away. He was glad to have completed Guardian White's suit. A lot of it had changed internally and externally. Now it had a custom star made for it, which for now was monotone grey and had eight tips all around it that were very close to one another.

"Now all I have to do is just create the star for Ronnie Anne's suit and make a weapon… Lisa would be upset if she saw my hands right now," Lincoln could not help but lightly laugh at himself. He could imagine the child prodigy attempting to treat his injuries like always whenever they worked together. The young boy hurt his hands a lot because of his low experience with using tools.

"I should call Lynn and Lori to check up on them," he thought he could use a small break. He went to the living room, digging out his cellphone and beginning to push the buttons for his contacts, attempting to conference call Guardian Black and Guardian Blue.

"Huh? No reception?" Lincoln quirked an eyebrow. His call would not go through. There were no bars available which was very unusual. His cellphone bill was always paid on time, and there was not even a single cloud in the sky during this very early afternoon. Guardian Red put his cellphone away, huffing in irritation. It was like the world was out to make him worry over everyone. He turned on the television, checking to see if it worked. It thankfully did, he turned it to the most popular news station, which seemed to be hosting an afternoon talk show.

"Yes, that monster broke my car apart, but those guardians saved my life. They are just simply the best," one woman spoke. Lincoln did not recognize her, but this woman had been attacked by an Elite Textoth that Lori and Lynn had defeated to save her life. She was the owner of a small toy company, who was on this talk show to promote her upcoming products.

"Seriously?" Guardian Red was only able to stare wide eyed. Several toys were presented, such as fake guardians' stars, makeshift helmets and replicas of their guardian gear, or at least their Guardian weapons. Lincoln had no idea how to feel about this. Perhaps a lawsuit was going to be in order once the whole Xeran ordeal was finished. Sadly, the Guardians were not yet ready to unveil their identities to the world.

"Wow! Haha! Look at me! I'm Guardian Red!" the male host laughed while wearing the toy Guardian Red helmet.

"Oh… what in the blue earth's blazing core!" The lone Loud boy wanted to hit his head against a wall until he forgot this embarrassing act being displayed on television.

"How did you replicate these things so well?" the female co-host asked, eagerly.

"It was thanks to someone who had gotten Guardian Reds autograph, and that friendly reporter, Jessica, I had to give her quite some money for the many pictures that showed the guardians from all angles, but it has been worth it I'd like to think. We just released these toys to the market today, too," the toy creator gave her bright smile. Lincoln was not surprised. Jessica was becoming richer by the day thanks to her stalking efforts, he was upset that the man he had given an autograph for his supposed son, had blatantly abused it to just make money.

"What's weird is that I was meant to present a lot more toys than these. I had that dragon and ninja guardian all lined up and prepared, but my phone wouldn't work, so I could not pick them up from the designers."

"Their cellphone was messed up, too?" he muttered to himself, his attention caught somewhat, "Coincidences happen, Lincoln, calm down…"

"Really? That's odd… so has mine. It refused to get any signal while I was stuck in traffic… The radio stations wouldn't work either, so I was stuck in a long, long, boring wait," the female co-host said. The three went back and forth from there. Lincoln was finding it odd that so many people's cellphones also had stopped working. Many needed cellphones in this day and age for a load of things. It was stranger that radios were being busted, too. He hated how badly it was affecting Lori as well.

"What should I do? I'm not able to go investigating," Lincoln put a hand on his stomach, the slightest touch making him cringe in pain. It still hurt a lot to the touch. Even if he was morphed, if he took one hard hit to the stomach, it would feel like he swallowed a whole drawer full of sharp knives.

"Let me try calling again," he pulled out his cellphone ready to try and call his sisters again, but there still was no reception. He thought he would just go back to work on the suits, when his cellphone began to ring in his hand. Guardian Red hesitantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Is this stupid thing on? I've called like twenty different area codes… My name is Xell. I'm a Xeran Elite," Xell verbally introduced himself. Lincoln was staring off into space, unsure how to reply to a Xeran Elite that actively was trying to get in contact with him.

"Allllllright then… I guess you know I'm Guardian Red… can I help you?" Lincoln had no clue what else to say. This was too civil and too awkward for his taste.

"Not me, but my master!" Xell answered, "I was ordered to take out all of the city's cellphones and radios, and then to get into contact with you. We have your daughter here."

"Lisa?!" Lincoln's blood began to boil, "What do you want with my daughter!?"

"Well first of all, we want...Actually, I don't know. Personally I'd like some ice cream, but I don't get to choose. I'm just a tool for my master. But, she ordered me to let you talk to the kid, so here you go," the Xeran Elite said. After a few brief moments, the child prodigy was put on the phone.

"Dad!" Lisa shouted, "Listen! You can't give them what they want! You'll be in grave danger!"

"Lisa? Honey, where are you?! I'll save you don't worry!" Lincoln reassured the child prodigy, sadly she was taken off the phone before he could talk further.

"Shh, shh, sweetheart," Linka chimed up. Xell groaned in annoyance as he got yanked around.

"Hello there, myself! I'm Linka, and I'm the first Xeran Human crossbreed to ever grace the universe… If you want our little daughter to be safe, then you need to do something for me," Linka began. Lincoln was confused. That sounded so much like him when he was a girl, from his recollection of that odd time where he was stuck as Linka Loud. He wondered what the Xeran's plan was this time. Especially if they copied him, to a degree. It was too coincidental for someone to have that name and exact tone.

"Am I having another stroke?" the young boy held his head, gaining a quick migraine from his anger rising. It made the pin on his chest begin to darken even redder.

"What do you want from me? Just please, please don't hurt Lisa…" Lincoln pleaded. He would do anything if it meant saving the one he saw as a daughter, and creator of the world's only force against the Xeran. Lincoln knew he was expendable. Other guardians could be made and trained if he died.

"I want a lot of things, but I don't think you'd like most of them…" Linka explained, "So to put it short, I want you, I want your star, and I want those two guardian suits that I forgot to grab in my anger when taking little Lisa here."

"Lincoln! Don't listen to her!" Lisa screamed from the background, the young boy had to take in several breaths to try and think fast for a decision.

"Fine… just… Just don't hurt her," Lincoln begged, hearing that almost demonic giggle which shook him slightly.

"Great!" Linka beamed, "Now come to the old mall in the far north part of town! It's a long trip, soooo I'll give you… four hours! If you don't come, then I'll...Well I'll give you another hour, but if you don't show up after that, then I'll take MY daughter to the Xeran dimension, and let her serve the majesty for eternity. If I can't have your essence, hers'll do plenty fine!"

"She's MY daughter! You-!" Lincoln's cellphone got cut off abruptly. He did not know what to do. He held his head and fell onto his knees. Guardian Red had no way to contact Lynn or Lori. He had no chance to run the entire way to the outpost to request General Eugene's help. The trip was too far from the outpost to the mall, even by car. He had no hope of getting to Lynns location either, he had no clue where Lori was exactly with Bobby too.

"I need help… I don't know what to do!"


	84. Selfish

**Authors Note: I want to wish a happy birthday to** **LucklessBlock86, I wish him the best. And thank you all again for 600 reviews! I am so happy to see this story is liked, even if it is going to draw to a close eventually. We're nearing there but we still have a good distance to go, take care all!**

Lincoln was pacing back and forth in the confines of the garage. He had been doing this for twenty minutes straight with no rest, despite his sore legs. He was lost in his own thoughts, debating what would happen if the world lost not just a guardian, but the potential for the two future guardians and their built suits. Guardian Red had tried using his cellphone constantly to try and call his sisters, but he never could get any reception. Xell was doing his job of jamming communications perfectly. He wished his parents were here right now, sadly they were at work and therefore unreachable currently.

"I can't do this alone. If I do, my only options are that I die and we lose three guardians, or Lisa gets her essence stolen... The best thing I can do is save Lisa and the other suits," Lincoln said to himself. He would have to set up a trick so that only he was the casualty. Linka's desire for his essence instead of his life completely slipped out of his mind.

"Ben, I really wish you were here right now… You were able to stay calm in any situation," Guardian Red punched the wall, not caring for the pain in his knuckle. He soon heard the front door open. That sound piercing the quiet air made his heart flutter. He was relieved at the thought of Lynn and Lori returning early due to the oddities. The teenager sped straight to the living room.

"Hey! I'm so happy you two are home… oh…" Lincoln was disappointed when he instead saw Luna and Leni in front of the living room door. They had just gotten back home after the two had gone to do some shopping so they could get the materials Leni needed, so she could make a new outfit for their rock loving sister.

"Hey, little bro! Wow, you don't look happy to see us," Luna greeted their only brother. He looked so excited for a brief minute there, but it was like he lost all joy when realizing it was them.

"Are you okay, Lincy? You look like you've been trying not to cry," Leni questioned. She knew that look in his eyes, which she recognized a lot from herself. Her low intelligence had gotten her bullied quite a lot throughout the school years. Lincoln was about to answer, but when he looked up to them, a mental signal flare exploded in his head with an idea.

"Come on, Lincoln. You're trying to protect your family… not get more of them in danger… But they could help me save Lisa… But once they morph, they'd be guardians forever. Ronnie Anne was meant to wear one of those suits, too… Can I trust two more of my sisters with my burden?" his brain was going all over the place, morally battling over whether it was right or wrong to request his two older sisters to help him with this matter of life and death.

"Well, when you wanna talk, come find me. I'm gonna go tune my guitar," Luna patted her little brother's head, since they could not get a response from him due to him spacing out. They were going to let him come open up about his problems himself, if and when he was ready.

"I should go get started on your clothes, Luna," Leni was eager to get started, the two beginning to head for the stairs.

"Wait!" Lincoln's call stopped his two sisters from taking one step upstairs. The older Louds looked over their shoulders and saw Lincoln on his hands and knees before them, looking emotionally wrecked. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm a failure as a brother and a father! Lisa's in danger because of me!"

Leni gasped hearing the news, while Luna stood surprised to see the young boy groveling at their feet.

"Lincoln, what do you mean? You said she was at a friend's last night," Luna quirked, trying to brush aside the concern, but sadly the two Louds felt nothing but fear and worry.

"Lori and Lynn said that this morning," Leni added. They were waiting for his next reply, but he had tears in his eyes and a quivering lip.

"I lied, I'm sorry! I've been living near death these last few months! I'm Guardian Red! I need help saving her life, because I can't do this alone! There's no one else I can go to! I'll do anything!" Lincoln bowed his head against the floor, tears pouring down his face as he cried out, begging for help from two of the older Louds. They were the only ones home and he was more than glad to tell them the truth now.

"Lincoln what are you talking about?!" Luna was taken aback from hearing it all at once, but to see him so upset and anxious concerned her. Leni wondered if that was what he meant by being Lynn's guardian when she first heard that conversation, a long time ago.

"Lincoln, come on, calm down… What's going on?" Leni helped him off the floor, only to have the young boy wrap his arms around her. It was as if he had been holding back this breakdown since the very day he became Guardian Red. His family always had been in danger, but it was never so direct until now. He felt Lenis comforting hand on his head soothing him.

"Lisa got kidnapped…" Lincoln choked out, "I have to go take myself and the two new guardian suits we made to some… some doppelganger of me, or else they'll take her away forever! All the phones are off and I can't call Lori, Lynn or the army for help!"

"Bro, you're not making any sense…" Luna tried to get him to calm down. He was so upset that it was in no way an elaborate prank set up by Luan. She was more concerned that he might be close to having another stroke, like she saw him have last time.

"We're the guardians. I'll prove it to you right now!" Lincoln broke his embrace with Leni. He pulled out his red curve-tipped star and inserted it into the back of his guardian gauntlet, which securely closed.

"Guardian mode! Engage!" he morphed into Guardian Red right before his siblings' eyes. He reached up and grabbed the front and back of his helmet, hearing it clunk securely into place. He paid little mind to the new scorch mark on the living room floor he had caused.

"OH MY GOSH!" Leni screamed happily as Luna fell back in shock. Lincoln did not mean to be so blunt and straightforward, but he was on a timer that most likely was about an hour dryer by now.

"I don't think I can help you out much with this… Wait… oh gosh… I've been in love with you?" the second oldest Loud had somewhat become fond of Guardian Red. She just presumed he was an adult with height issues. She felt very embarrassed now, though she seemed over that crush the second after realizing who was behind the red Guardian mask. Lincoln did not care about that at the moment.

"Sorry, Luna. I didn't mean to scare you. I wanted to prove I'm not crazy," the lone Loud boy felt bad for having kept this secret for so long, but his choices were very lacking until he was backed into this metaphorical corner, thanks to the Xeran endangering Lisa's life. He held a hand out, offering to help his rock sibling off the floor.

"Why would you do this?!" Luna suddenly shouted like an angry mother would, while getting off the floor.

"Wh-what? What did I do?" Lincoln questioned. If she was upset because of the scorch mark he caused on the carpet, it would easily be covered up by a piece of furniture, unless the furniture was covering other carpet damage.

"Luna?" Leni chirped nervously.

"This!" the rock aspiring girl tapped his helmet, referring to his relations to the guardians, "Why would you do this?! You've been getting hurt and all these other injuries, because you've been fighting monsters!? Why would you want to hurt our family like this? What if you died?"

"But, I never wanted to hurt you guys! …Are you forgetting that I'm still alive?" Lincoln removed his helmet from his head, holding it under his arm. It felt weird to be in the suit and not wearing it, but he would live.

"That doesn't change anything! Why would you, Lynn and Lori go doing this?! Don't you care about our family? There were a million people who could be the guardians! Why did you have to be them?!" Luna did not calm down. She could not calm down. Lincoln glared, getting irritated already at her accusations of not caring for their family. The rock loving girl was stunned when he got in her face without hesitation. That anger in his eyes could scare a king cobra into running away, unfortunately her back was against the wall.

"I do care about this family! That's why I get hurt daily helping out every one of you selfish people, before I go out hunting down the Xeran! I'm acting as a dad to two of our sisters, while trying to help keep you all, the world and everyone I can safe!" Guardian Red countered. Leni was not able to speak into a conversation this volatile. "I know there were other people who could have become the guardians, but they didn't, and we did! I've done all this for months while trying to keep everyone of you happy, and seeing you all happy and safe makes me happy! As a guardian, I don't under any circumstances, enjoy seeing anyone hurt!"

Lincoln started panting after his forced out words. Those words seemed to do the trick in calming Luna down, but only a little.

"It's just… You're tearing our family apart by risking your lives like this…" Luna buried her face into her hands while sliding down to the floor. Lincoln was glad to see her calmed down. He had half expected to be smacked by her, but was glad it did not happen. He knew what it was like. She had a big hand in raising him after all.

"We're not. We're risking tearing our family apart by trying to make sure other families don't get torn apart by the Xeran…" he morphed back to normal, taking his red curve-tipped star and putting it away.

"You… You really think we're selfish?" Leni whimpered. Her feelings were as flimsy as her IQ. He held his head, not sure if those were words of anger or the truth being forced out by his anger.

"I just had to ask you for this big favor to help save Lisa's life. But after all I've done to help you all, you don't want to help back? I'd say that's pretty selfish…And uncaring for the family." Lincoln cast his gaze down at Luna, with a disappointing glare now that he had turned the conversation around on her. His situation was dire. They knew the truth now. Leni was unhappy, and Luna felt like her heart was shredded. They could safely guess that if the Xeran were involved, police were worthless, even if cellphones were working. The two siblings to the guardian wanted to make it up to their brother for making him feel so used, even if he was not expressing that feeling specifically.

"I-I'm sorry, Lincoln… We'll make it up to you," Luna sniffled while rubbing her eyes, trying not to break down.

"Yeah! Just tell us how to help you out, Lincy! Anything for our family!" Leni began to grow happy at a very fast rate. Lincoln looked at his two sisters, hoping he would never have to be in this position again, the situation where he had to emotionally tear apart his siblings in an argument just to convince them to help with something. He knew Ronnie Anne was going to kill him for what he was about to say.

"I need help adjusting and completing the guardian suits...To fit you two."


	85. Xerardian?

"Still nothing?" Linka chirped when talking to the textoth that she had working underneath her, which she had created herself. The skeleton warriors had told her in their weird, skreeful language that there had been no sign of the Guardians Leader, and their four hour time limit they had given him had just ended.

"I said we'd give'em an hour extra if they didn't show up during the first four, soooooo… Go back to your positions and keep on waiting?" Linka shrugged while giving the half caring orders. The textoth all agreed to her orders. Sadly their positions were not so much guarding but more so lying around the abandoned mall, lazing around.

"Ar-are you going to take my essence?" Lisa gulped nervously from nearby, afraid that since time was up, they were going to target her. If the Xeran Human hybrid could not have a Guardian's Essence, they could take the next best thing, which would be the essence of one of the Louds, which seemed impossible to steal by average means.

"No no no no no, shhh sweetheart," the clone reassured the child prodigy, her motherly nature still not doing much to cover up the evil burning inside her, which made her come off as even more scary with her behavior.

"Here, do you want some chocolate? I stole a lot since I didn't know your favorite type," Linka pulled out a chocolate bar. During her attack to get essence somewhat subtlety this morning, she had made an effort to grab several items for her male duplicate's metaphorical daughter, in attempts to make the imprisonment comfortable.

"Chocolate?! Indeed! I'd love some of—haakk! Erm… yes, I am quite fond of chocolate of nearly all varieties assortments," Lisa shamefully caught herself after graciously accepting the tooth decaying sweets. All the sisters in the Loud family were chocolate addicts by nature. No amount could satisfy their cravings due to the whole problem of having to share with all their other siblings.

"There you go sweetheart," Linka just shoved the small chocolate bar into Lisa's mouth since her arms were still bound. The child prodigy gave an unamused look, but was glad to have some candy. At least Linka was being nice to her, to an extent.

"Skreeeeeeeeee!" two textoth's cries echoed as they flew through the air and into a glass pane, shattering it. They lay there, slowly beginning to turn to dust.

"Guess they have arrived," Linka smiled. Lisa had a sense of morbid dread fill her heart, weighing it down to her stomach. The sound of footsteps pattered against the dirty half-tiled floor. Lincoln emerged from the slight shadows of the mall, holding the silver case in his arm that was securely locked tight. He looked stressed, but confident.

"Wow… You really are me," Lincoln could only say in awe of seeing his female self, the form he never wished to relive or ever see again. He was able to disguise as a girl pretty well as is, so this was an awkward change to see someone that was his exact lookalike, in both appearance and actions.

"Yes… I am your twin, technically… but enough about that… I'm glad to see you showed up! Just when the time extension started, too," Linka giggled. Guardian Red could not tell why her laugh sounded so demonic, but it echoed so much, and she enjoyed showing her sharp teeth whenever doing it.

"Dad, what are you doing?! I told you to save the suits! I'm expendable!" Lisa called out from the back as textoth were gathering behind their Xeran human leader.

"No. I'M expendable, Lisa… honey, just trust me on this," Lincoln apologized. Linka stepped up to him and held out her hand, the same way a child would hold out their trick or treat bags on Halloween.

"Before anything else, gimme your star… it'd be the best way to start all of this off," Linka insisted.

"Not going to defiantly yell 'never' to that…" Lincoln reached into his back pocket and pulled out a red curve-tipped star, placing it in the palms of the hybrid being's hands. Her smile brightened more while the young boy's straight face was only full of anger.

"Thanks! I was hungry for a new heart," Linka tossed the star into her mouth and crunched it down. After a few moments of chewing, she swallowed with a smile.

"You're freaky…" Lincoln shoved the silver briefcase into her arms, and he walked past her to get to Lisa. The textoth initially were going to stop him, threatening to attack him if he did not halt his movements, but the skeleton warriors changed their minds the second that Linka snarled at them.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Lincoln freed the second youngest Loud from her bindings. Once they were off Lisa hugged him, and he gladly returned the embrace while picking her up.

"I'm sorry…" the child prodigy sobbed, feeling horrible that he had been forced into this position. Now it was likely that the Xeran human was going to take him away forever.

"Hey hey, it's not your fault, Lisa… Now when I put you down, you need to try and get as far away from here as you can," Lincoln whispered. It was confusing to Lisa. She had no idea what to expect. Lincoln rested Lisa down, and she obediently began to run away.

"You're not fighting back or anything?" Linka sounded so disappointed, while she viewed the suits in the briefcase.

"…also, whoever is your designer needs work. They screwed these suits up so bad and made them so small, that I don't think any textoth or Xeran could or would want to wear them," she was annoyed. She expected something a lot more near completed. She guessed that she had snatched them away before they were even half completed and nowhere near ready enough to be worn.

"I actually value the wellbeing of my daughter," Lincoln faced his female counterpart. Lisa almost was at the exit, when something all too familiar got in her way.

"Ring ring! It's me! Xell!" the weird Xeran Elite made out of cellphones stood. One of his arms looked more like a dangerous serrated clamp jaw, and its head had two antennas on its helmet. Lisa screamed as the cellphone monster grabbed her with its open hand, the textoth watching the scene and cackling.

"Lisa!" Lincoln gasped. He paused as he then turned to Linka with an angry glare. "You promised you'd let her go!"

"Sorry! I'm a total liar who wants to make sure that all opposition to the Xeran is alllllllllll wiped out, because otherwise I don't get to keep you all to myself!" Linka laughed maniacally while burning the suits completely, which she then threw away to the side.

"How about we fight, then! Me and you, one on one!" Lincoln declared a challenge to his female counterpart. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Really? A duel? I mean, that's sweet and all that you want to die protecting our daughter, or family, or whatever… but you would not even stand a chance against me! …but I'll agree, if only because I can get away with toying with you by saying it's your final request before I strip you of your freedom," Linka giggled, more than glad to agree to do battle. Lisa could not do anything, as the monster had her by the throat and was barely allowing her to breathe.

"Let's do this! Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln pulled out his red curve-tipped star and inserted it to the back of his guardian gauntlet, hearing it close securely in place. He punched the ground hard as a wave of fire erupted around him, quickly morphing him into Guardian Red.

"What?!" Linka stared. She was in shock.

"Lock in!" Guardian Red grabbed the front and back of his helmet and secured it into place with a loud clunking noise. He tapped the side of his helmet to close the visor.

"But how!? I ate your star! I ate the heart that it contained to make it my own!" Linka twitched in ever growing anger. Lincoln knew that only having a Xeran Elite threatening Lisa was nowhere near as bad as having a hundred textoth ready to cut her to the bone.

"Sorry, but all you did was eat plastic and burn some toy suits… too bad for you, ma'am," Lincoln was glad that those toy replicates he saw on television worked wonders, even if he had to burn a chunk of money getting them. Toys were not as cheap as they were when he was young.

He struck his pose. "Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!"

Linka began to shake her head rapidly, until she screamed, reaching into her bag digging around quickly before pulling out a mysterious mask that had demonic red tribal carvings painted all over it. She put the mask onto her face as red essence began to get drawn to her from all of the textoth.

"What are you doing?!" Guardian Red gasped in shock, "You're willing to kill your own goons?!"

"They'll live without anger…" Linka took in a deep breath to calm herself. She took some of the essence before drawing a circle in the air, and she slashed two lines through it, giving it the picture of an enraged face.

"Let's, Xeran Henshin!" the red essence attached to her body as the majesty's purple essence began to be expunged from inside her, beginning to combine and form into a midnight red and black suit that had the same tribal symbols all over it, matching her mask. The mask formed into a helmet, the mouth cover having completely sharp fangs for decoration. Ominous black stripes and large bolts were along the head on the sides of the helmet.

"Lock in…" the bolts screwed into the helmet, keeping it securely in place, as the V-shaped visor closed to cover her upper face. Its silver color lighted up slightly.

"You're joking… You also have a Guardian Mode?!" Lincoln could not believe it. He saw a large set of three claws appear on her hand, followed with a thick piece of metal covered in red lines, acting as a replicate of the guardian gauntlet.

"Guardian mode? Hahahaha! Don't make me laugh! I have a human and a Xeran form. When they're combined, I become one of the ultimate beings!" Linka spun around and struck a pose with her claw raised high as if to mock him.

"Xerardian Red! Thief and consumer of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Xerardian Red laughed. The two began to charge at each other, and their claws clashed. Lincoln was not sure why he felt an overwhelming terror swelling inside him. He kicked his clone in the stomach before slashing their chest, causing sparks to fly off. Guardian Red got tackled by Linka soon after, her claws digging into his chest as she stabbed him, before spinning around slashing him multiple times. Electrical smoke was blazing off his body, her attacks hit quite hard.

"I just… need to buy time until they're ready!" he grit his teeth while mentally reminding himself that it was only a matter of time before his assistants were in position to execute the plan he had made. Even if it had predictably gone off track.

Lisa wished she could do something to help the very person she saw as her father. But being held captive like this gave her no simple options. Suddenly, while she stared down at the many buttons on Xell's chest, she had an idea. The monster was caught up watching the fight like the rest of the textoth, so he wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Man, I really wish I had some ice cream. This stuff is awesome!" Xell chuckled. While completely distracted, the child genius was using her foot to hit the numbers on his chest. She was trying to create a text message. Since he was jamming all other means of communication in the city, Xell was the best option for getting a message for help out to Lori and Lynn. Except Lisa was not informed by Lincoln about what he had planned. Help was already on the way.

"Are you ready, Leni?"

"N-No, I'm not, but… I'll do it for Lincoln!"


	86. The Fourth And Fifth Guardians?

**Authors Note: I want to apologize to everyone, for this chapter being late if it was late. I was not happy with how this turned out, so I had to rewrite this chapter 3 times. I am pleased with this final version, but I hope you all enjoy it. Take care!**

Lynn stood in the center of the field. A baseball rested in her gloved hand as she stared down at the boy up to bat. Two strikes so far and one more will strike him out. But Lynn was feeling stressed out. They were only in the sixth inning, but the score was twenty to nineteen so far. The sporty Louds team had been winning with ease, but then in the last two rounds, the opposing team suddenly ramped up their game and started scoring a lot of points. Lynn soon felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

"Really? At a time like this?" Lynn murmured, only paying attention to it because it had not been working for her all day. She pulled it out to quickly view the text message, since the enemy teams coach had thankfully called for a timeout to talk to his batter. Guardian Blacks eyes widened upon seeing the text.

"help abandoned mall lincoln danger - lisa."

Lynn bit her lip. It was one of the more important games of the season, but one moment of brief mental debate put the entire issue to rest and gave her the decision she was unhesitant to do, especially if Lincoln was in danger.

"'Ey Rickson!" she yelled, seeing all eyes set on her instantly as the shortest person in the bullpen climbed out and went up to her. Rickson, though the same age as her, seemed to have a major growth issue, but often looked up to her for how well she could do at so many different sports.

"Ye-yeah, Lynn?" Rickson asked nervously as she shoved the catcher's mitt and baseball into his hands.

"Take over for me. I have a family emergency," Lynn placed her hat on his head. Rickson stared in awe. Most of the game spectators in the crowd were looking irritated now.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Lynn mentally promised while trying to quickly get her guardian vest boots and gloves on. She just had a long run to go, and the only thing to look forward to after today would be an angry coach.

* * *

"Aw, man. I was so close," Bobby sighed while looking at a claw machine disappointingly. The couple was at the movie theaters, killing time to wait for the movie to begin. They had arrived a lot earlier than usual, this movie was the finisher they had planned for their one year anniversary celebration.

"You've said that each time you lost, Bobby… All ten times," Lori coughed. She was glad that he was trying so hard to make her happy, even after she had insisted he could relax and had nothing to worry about. He had no chance of losing her and she had no intention of leaving him.

"Sorry babe, I love ya, but you know I'm a very determined man," Bobby jokingly replied. Guardian Blue did find that admirable about him, even if it was more simply refusal to give up then determination.

"Huh? Oh, hey! My phone must be working again!" Lori gleefully spoke upon feeling the phone vibrate with a new text alert. She pulled out her Guardian Phone and immediately flipped it open. Her joy quickly faded upon seeing the text message.

"lincoln xeran danger abandoned mall. - lisa"

"Is this from Lisa?" Lori flipped her phone closed, looking down at it and her boyfriend. She wanted to stay, but these last few weeks had changed her both emotionally and mentally. She had grown a lot, just as her only brother had done.

"Bobby boo boo bear, I'm sorry, but I have to leave," Lori's words made Bobby turn to her, holding the stuffed toy he had been trying to win for her.

"What? But babe, we talked about our anniversary plans for a week straight. It wouldn't be as good if we stopped right before the ending," Bobby argued against her desire to leave. Guardian Blue understood why he was upset, but Lincoln had taught her that the world had millions who needed her to not act as immature as she used to.

"I have to go. It's important, my family needs my help Bobby. I want to tell you more, and one day I will, but right now I really have to get going," Lori turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, Lori! What is it you can't trust me with?! I've been worried sick this last month! You ran away from home and went through a lot of changes, and now you're cancelling the most important part of our anniversary? This is the fifth date you've cancelled, Lori!" the Santiago boy suddenly got punched in the face, which knocked him back into the claw machine, shaking it slightly. Bobby had not expected Lori to have developed a violent response to being touched without warning.

"Bobby, there is an entire world out there! I've been an idiot for making my entire world about you! I love you with all my heart, and I'm thankful you opened my eyes to it all, but you better learn that there are people more important than me around you!" Lori headed off, leaving her boyfriend sitting there looking this way.

"Di…did she dump me or apologize to me?" Bobby was confused, but he would ask Ronnie Anne about it later.

"I'm on my way, you guys!" Lori got into the car she had borrowed, beginning to back out before driving away from the parking. Lori was on the other side of Royal Woods, so the trip would be long.

* * *

"Whoa! Aaaah!" Lincoln's chest exploded in a blast of fire. He got knocked back, gasping for breath as he lay in the dusty area of the mall. The textoth crowd rooted for their Xerardian Linka.

"Dad!" Lisa sobbed. She wished she could be of more use. Other than sit and watch the dual unfold, getting those messages sent was all she could do. She didn't even care about trying to capitalize certain words due to how dire the situation was.

"I'm sick of playing around… You shouldn't have tried to double cross me, my silly twin," Linka dragged the large claws on the ground, scraping them Loudly against the many tiles and leaving thin trails behind when the dust on the floor was scraped aside.

"Hm?" Xerardian Red heard the sound of a small guitar strum in preparation, but the sound echoed throughout the mall, and it was hard for her to tell where it came from.

"Ohhh! Is there going to be a guitar show now?" Xell eagerly asked. Lisa recognized the music all too well. But why here in this situation, she wondered.

"What's your game?!" Linka aimed her claws at her male counterpart. He laughed while holding his chest.

"To save my daughter," Lincoln retorted, though if he took much more damage this severe, he would be forced out of guardian mode.

"Sharp Rock!"

Xell looked around in confusion. He suddenly screamed in pain as a razor sharp pain hit his back. The sound of guitar strings twanging rung out. Sparks flew off his upper back as he let go of Lisa. The child prodigy gasped for breath as the cellphone monster laid there, groveling in agony.

"Lisa! Hey, are you okay?" Luna stood there, holding a brand new guitar that was brightly colored purple but appeared very sturdy. She helped her second youngest sister up off the floor.

"Luna?" Lisa breathed, "What are you doing here?!"

"Textoth! Quit being lazy and attack!" the Xeran human ordered. The skeleton warriors understood and all got their various bone weaponry from their bodies before beginning to charge at them.

"Dang, this really is tense…! Let's hit'em with a stone cold stunner!" Luna readily jumped up and slapped her hand across the guitar. Its chords caused the textoth to all halt in their tracks and hold their heads, crying out in pain.

"It sounds fine to us, but… to them, it's like excruciating bone torture?" Lisa adjusted her temporary replacement glasses in awe, astounded by the guitars ability. A quarter of the textoth group was suddenly blasted away by several bursts of white beams that hit the crowd, scattering the bony monsters. The ones killed were dust already.

"I got them! I actually got them!" Leni cheered, terrified by aiming the advanced technology, but even more afraid of missing and hurting one of her family members.

"M-master Linka! What do we do?" Xell requested. Guardian Red grinned, now that they had taken their attention off him, he got up and charged past his female clone, slashing her side and cutting her wide open. Xerardian Red screamed in pain as electrical smoke blasted off her body.

"Everything worked out just as planned!" Lincoln high-fived his two older sisters. The young Loud was in awe. The group of Xeran enemies was reforming. Leni kept her grip tight on her blaster gun. Ben was not here with them, but for all Lincoln knew, he would be happy to know his successor had arrived.

"Why are they here?!" the furious Linka began to regenerate, "I created Xell so no one could be called for help! How are they actually able to do anything?!"

"Why do you think we're here? To help save our family!" Leni took another pot shot with her laser blaster. Xerardian Red smacked the blast aside, looking more irritated.

"Nice shot," a robotic voice sounded.

"Hush, you!" Leni groaned at her gun. For some reason when upgrading it, Lisa had found it more interesting to put a voice box in it. This made the weapon capable of warning Leni of enemies sneaking up on her, but half the time making sarcastic remarks like it had a mind of its own.

"You think we were just going to do nothing? We're tired of seeing them hurt! It's our turn to help them out!" Luna pulled out a purple star, but instead of points, it had different kinds of musical notes. Leni presented her white eight-tipped star as well, as they stood beside their only brother.

"You Xeran went too far this time. Time to teach you all a little lesson," Lincoln glared, Lisa right behind them. The textoth stood still, terrified of what they were seeing. If they tried to flee, their creator would slaughter them all. Xell was in no different of a position.

"'Ey! You said they only had three guardians and that we'd only have to worry about one!" Xell commented, only to be punched in the stomach by an enraged Linka.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" the two sisters shouted simultaneously. Leni put her eight-tipped white star on the back of her blaster. The thunder sphere had been removed for being an inferior power source. Leni spun the star rapidly, and she aimed the blaster in the air.

"Fire!" Leni fired watching the laser fly into the air and explode into a rain of particles that descended upon her. She was quickly put into the Guardian White suit. Dark silver gloves with gold strips around the wrists appeared on her hands, and boots of a similar pattern appeared on her feet. The suit was very light white and had two gold stripes going over each shoulder and down to the belt. A white guardian helmet appeared on her head, the silver stripes on top of it glowing silver. The crescent shaped visor allowed only the eyes to be exposed.

"Let's rock it!" Luna put her star onto her guitar and slid it down the strings. The lower half of her guitar folded and shrank before retracting into the handle. The star grew in size before taking its place, the strings stretching down and attaching to its new lower half to form the brand new guitar.

"Just hope this doesn't hurt," the rocker Loud tried to remain confident as she allowed a purple guardian suit to appear on her body. White gloves and boots followed shortly after. The guardian suit had yellow lines going over the shoulder and around the chest with black music notes on it, resembling a musical sheet. Her purple helmet appeared on her head, the visor shaped like an upside down smooth triangle. The lights on the top glowed purple.

"Lock in!" they grabbed the front and backs of their helmets, hearing them securely lock into place. They tapped the sides of their helmets, lowering their visors. Xeran forces were staring in horror at the two new guardians' debut before them.

"Oh my goodness… You were able to complete the suits?" Lisa gasped. Lincoln gave a thumbs up to her.

"Well, I had a cheat sheet with your notes. Now for the best part. Step back sweetheart," the lone Loud boy said. The child prodigy did as he ordered, aware of the power surges results.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of lives!" Lincoln raised his guardian gauntlet across his chest.

"Guardian White! Guardian of the essence that grants love to all life!" Leni twirled her blaster, but she lost her grip on it and panicked to catch it, before standing straight and resting it on her shoulder.

"Guardian Purple! Guardian of the essence that gives the world energy!" Luna jumped up, twanging the strings of her star guitar, and spinning around. The three had an explosion of red, purple and white smoke appear behind them.

"Five guardians in total now? Big deal! Go and make five more while you're at it! I'm still going to get my delicious essence!" Linka shouted, and then pointed an index finger at the three guardians, "Attack, my minions!"

The textoth and Xell all charged for the three readied guardians.

"I'll handle the…" Guardian White paused, "Uhh… what were those bone things called again?"

"Textoth," her blaster chimed up.

"Textoth! I'll get them!" Leni tried to be brave, but she was very terrified. All she could do was keep buckling down and reminding herself that it was for her family.

"The living outdated phone's mine," Guardian Purple grinned and charged off. She knew it would be best to keep as many of the enemies separated.

"Guess I'm back to fighting myself…" Lincoln held his helmet clad head, "Dual mode! Engage!"

He split his clawed gauntlet into two sets of claws, before rushing off and lunging at Xerardian Red. She caught him and tossed him aside. Guardian Red caught himself and rolled on the ground before he got up. He felt an all new life-force inside him. He had gotten all his energy back when his guardian sisters appeared.

"So… these are now going to make five guardians of the Guardian Project… With my father as their leader," Lisa watched the beginning of the fight. It warmed her heart to know her family members were willing to step into the role of hero, all for the sake of the world. Lisa wiped a tear from her eye, before taking cover in a hiding place so she could not be used as a hostage.

"Thank you all… so much!"


	87. Family Protection 1

**Authors Note: I apologize for not being able to update yesterday, due to snowfall my internet was destroyed until way past my uploading time. I apologize for the wait, I hope you all enjoy and take care!**

"Eek!" Leni jumped back, dodging a bone axe that missed her by an inch, the blade hitting the ground. She quickly shot it with the blaster, taking the skeleton monster's head clean off, its body collapsing but smoke left in its place. During the redesign, Lisa found it better to remove the combat knife from the gun, for the sake of having less weight on it.

"Left, Right, Behind, Forward!" her laser blaster spoke. Guardian White saw the horde of textoth surround her. She blocked two of the serrated swords that were swung her way with her blaster. Leni saw another textoth coming from her left. She struggled but managed to squeeze the trigger, firing another laser blast and knocking the textoth off its feet, and breaking the guard of the other two, which she then quickly opened fire on them. Each laser made large, electrically smoky impacts on the target textoth.

"I wish we had more time to learn everything about the suits…! I can't even remember how to change you, Mr. Gun," Guardian White commented, before she felt a sharp pain in her side. One of the boney creatures had snuck up behind her and stabbed her side with a dagger. She had no time to react before it grabbed her blaster and held her arm painfully behind her back.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Leni cried as three textoth began to slash and hack away at her chest, sparks bursting off her guardian suit. It provided protection, but did not prevent her from feeling pain. Guardian White swung her head back, bashing the textoth in the face and making it stumble back and let go of her.

"Switch it up! Dual Mode!" the blaster spoke as it was folded back in half. The top half of her blaster popped off and went into her other hand. The dual-wielding Leni rapidly fired away, barely taking the time to aim. There were so many textoth that no matter where she fired, one would be hit. The Xeran throwaway goons seemed to be endless.

"Lincoln! You didn't tell me that there would be so many!" Guardian White panted through her helmets communicator. She had to dodge another bone axe and smack the textoth away with one of her blaster pistols.

"There weren't half that many earlier! They must've called for backup! Sorry Leni!" Lincoln apologized. The sounds of him struggling rung out over the communicator, he guessed the textoth that had been residing within other parts of the abandoned mall had heard the commotion, and decided to come join in on the battle.

"I wish I had a way to hit a lot at once…" Guardian White muttered while seeing the next wave of textoth coming for her. She had been doing excellent at making sure none of the skeletal creatures went after her siblings, making sure they all had their own individual attention on a specific enemy.

"Try your guardian finisher!" Lisa called from her hiding spot. Leni tilted her head while kicking a textoth in the stomach before punching it away, she was just doing what felt natural to her body.

"Like this?" Guardian White reassembled her weapon and spun the eight-tipped star, watching it begin to draw white essence up her arm to fill it with power. She decided to just do what came naturally. She averted to her enemy textoth to see them all rushing together. The terrified Leni pulled her star off her weapon.

"Guardian Finisher! Funky Brawl! Engage!" Guardian White threw her star in the air and blasted it with one last strong laser. The white star began floating in the air and spinning rapidly, as it began to fire lasers everywhere like a disco ball.

"Skreeee!" the textoth began shrieking in terror as they were being sliced through upon mere contact with the lasers. Any of the skeletons that were not instantly slaughtered and turned to dust, were forced to stay in place struggling to dodge the lasers. Leni holstered her blaster and charged in.

"Just stay confident, like Lincoln said, and you'll be fine…! Believe in what you fight for and you'll be fine…!" the second oldest Loud kept repeating to herself what her brother had told her, as she slid under two crossing lasers, knocking three textoth off their feet and causing them to get eviscerated by their forced collapses into the many beams.

Leni quickly stood up, hopping over another laser as she wound up kicking another two textoth away, she flopped back first hard onto the ground. Two textoth tried to attack her with their jagged scimitars, but she was able to catch them in her hands. It hurt immensely, but she withstood the pain. A few moments after, the many lasers hit the textoth, making them relinquish their grasp on their weapons and collapse.

"Whew… Did I win?" Leni wondered aloud as her finisher move ended, her white eight-tipped star landing on her chest. One small glance around and Guardian White could see nothing but the textoth's disintegrating bodies, or piles of dust. She exhaled in relief, feeling drained. The first morph always was very taxing on a bearer's energy.

* * *

"Come on! You're just making my job harder! And that's supposed to be my boss's job!" Xell swung his clamp jaw arm at Guardian Purple. She caught the attack with her star guitar and shoved him back.

"Is this the part where I pretend to care? Cause I'm really not in the mood for it! Sharp Rock!" Luna swung her guitar and cut the cellphone monsters stomach, causing sparks to blast off.

"Time to tune it up with a stone cold stunner!" Guardian Purple spun and shredded the strings of the guitar, sending out a Loud echoing noise. She began to play away as if the Xeran Elite was an audience member of a crowd. Xell held his head, screaming in pain.

"Ough! I feel like my circuits are about to explode!" the Xeran Elite cried in agony. Luna already loved having a guitar specifically designed to harm the Xeran. The fact it was sturdy enough to swing around and hit them with, made it all the better. The helmet on Xell's head exploded, exposing his head with a fountain of sparks. The antenna helmet was nothing but pieces now.

"Yeow! That's gotta sting," Luna cringed.

"I think I need to dial 911…" Xell tried to gain his mental ability back, even if part of his head had exploded from being overloaded by the sound of the guitar solo. Xell opened his clamp jaw, aiming for his enemy and firing an intense bolt of lightning.

"Whoa!" Luna got knocked off her feet by the bolt, crashing into some boxes and leftover tools. A cloud of dust and clattering tools surrounded her on the floor. She looked at her guitar that had landed nearby.

"My master's going to kill me if I die! You won't beat me! I can't let you!" Xell began to get his bearings back. Now he no longer could jam communications across the city due to his helmet being busted. Guardian Purple got off the floor, picking up the guitar.

"Let's wrap it up with an explosive ending!" Luna ran her hand along the base of her guitar and kicked aside the boxes in her way. She watched Xell stand there, ready to attack. She began to absorb purple essence into her instrument. the two glared down each other like it was a showdown.

"Guardian Finisher! Stage show! Engage!" She called out as Xell fired another large chain of thunder. The rock aspiring Loud caught it with her guitar. It knocked her back slightly, but she stood her ground. She strummed her guitar, sending out a sonic wave that sent the Xeran Elite into paralyzed agony.

"Windmill!" Guardian Purple spun her arm against her guitar, sending out more of the sonic waves. Each one that hit Xell burst sparks and smoke from different parts of his body. She began to charge at him.

"Stage slide!" Luna ducked under another blast of thunder as she slid on her knees. Her guitar began to glow bright purple as she leaned back under his clamp claw's attack.

"Spinning guitar!" Guardian Purple spun her guitar, it created a purple aura trail. She slid by him, her star guitar cut right through Xell violently. She slid for a short distance, leaving him standing behind her when she came to a halt.

"Gah… My data roaming bill's gonna be through the roof…" Xell fell flat on his face, and his body detonated into a large explosion with fireworks on the sides. Luna could only laugh, wishing she had a picture of her standing in front of it, for memories sake.

"Now that was a real guitar solo," Guardian Purple exhaled in joyous relief, but she could not get her exhausted body to move. She noticed Lisa coming over to help her, having already helped Leni. The prodigy was willing to make sure that her sisters were alright.

* * *

"You are possibly the most irritating person in the world! You're lucky that I want you alive! otherwise I would have killed you the second you walked through the door!" Linka grabbed her male twin and kneed him in the stomach several times. She then proceeded to throw Guardian Red to the next floor of the abandoned mall. Lincoln landed on the hard floor, sliding across it and hitting his helmeted head against the floor. Lincoln then saw the large claws of his female doppelganger grab onto the side, as she hoisted herself up. he forced himself back onto his feet.

"All your goons are dead! You don't have a chance now!" Guardian Red declared, able to see the outcome of his siblings' battles from the second floor.

"You act like I care. all they did was save me the time of killing them myself for failure… I can tell your backup is not of any help at the moment either," Linka giggled. Lincoln had only just now noticed that both of his sisters were collapsed. the stress of the first transformation into guardian mode had finally gotten to them.

"Well… Moral support is moral support… that aside, let's finish this!" Lincoln began to charge his guardian finisher, red essence beginning to fill his guardian gauntlet. he aimed both sets of claws and fired all six of them. they impaled his female clone's arms to the back of the nearby wall, trapping her there.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst! Engage!" Guardian Red took aim and fired his red curve-tipped star from his gauntlet, which spun while blazing brightly, heading right for Linka. it hit her directly, a small, explosive impact took out that chunk of the wall. Lincoln caught his star as it came back, and the claws of his guardian gauntlet retracted. He stared at the large smoke cloud for a few moments.

"Whew… that really sucked," Lincoln panted while being bent over with his hands on his knees. he looked up for half a second to see a weird glow.

"Xerardian Finisher… Essence Reaver!" Linka came charging out, her large monstrous claws entirely engulfed in fire. She immediately slashed Lincoln's entire chest before he could move a muscle, leaving blazing embers on his chest and making him spin around.

"Suffer!" Xerardian Red jumped up and slashed Lincoln downward from head to foot. he began sparking violently as he was engulfed in an explosion, being thrown face first to the lower floor and forced out of his guardian mode from the finisher. his red curve-tipped star landed nearby, he desperately reached out and took it in his grip, but was unable to do more beyond that.

"Dad!" Lisa cried out. her sisters were asleep, and she could do nothing to wake them up. Linka got down onto the ground floor and began approaching her counterpart, who was bloody, beaten and bruised, with claw marks all over his body, three were very prominent over his eyes and nose.

"Whew… I'm hungry," Linka reached up and grabbed her helmet, making her Xerardian body vanish. she removed the mask and put it away. she reached down, about to take the red guardian and go, only to then be blasted in the shoulder, causing a small burst of smoke to come off of her.

"Grrr… Who did that?!" she snapped her head the other direction to notice Lisa standing there with Leni's blaster.

"Honey… why would you do that to me?" the Xeran human hybrid felt her heart ache, for whatever peculiar reason. She began to approach, only to be shot by more lasers in the chest. Lisa was trying to halt her, but it did little to stop her.

"Leave my dad alone! And quit calling me 'honey' or 'sweetheart'! You're nothing but an abomination! An abomination without their own identity at that! You even said it yourself that you wanted to wipe out all those that oppose the Xeran!"

"I was not going to hurt you… I was going to just take you away to the Xeran dimension, to reeducate you… but I guess that was just stupid motherly instinct," Linka quickly grabbed Lisa by the throat with both hands, beginning to crush her windpipe. the child prodigy could only gag in terror, unable to do any more than she did now.

"Scatter!"

Linkas back erupted in a small explosion of sparks, making her let go of Lisa, who gasped for breath, she was relieved to hear the familiar voice.

"Don't you touch them!" Lynn from out of nowhere, grabbed and suplexed Linka headfirst into the floor. She quickly stood back up, without giving the clone any chance to react she roundhouse kicked the monstrous girl in the face, knocking her back.

"Lori! Lynn! I'm so glad you showed up… Even if it was at a surprisingly coincidentally very dramatic moment…" Lisa panted while holding her neck. the bruises looked quite horrible. Her older sisters were standing between her and their unconscious siblings.

"Sorry for that…" Lynn sighed, looking around the scene. "Who're the new guardians?"

"We'll worry about that later! You and Lisa get everyone away from here! I'll fight… Lincoln's clone?" Lori gave her immediate orders.

"…alright, here!" Lynn begrudgingly agreed, as did Lisa, she tossed her rough-edged black star to her oldest sister, Lori quickly caught it.

"Forget my brothers! I'll kill you all if I have to get his essence!" the frustrated Linka got her mask out. Lori got her star and Lynn's star ready, as Lynn picked up Luna and Leni, while Lisa went to drag Lincoln to the exit so they could flee.

"Not if I can help it, you freak of nature!"


	88. Family Protection 2

"You're going to regret letting my prey escape!" Linka called out. Lori rested her sword on her side while getting out her guardian phone.

"And you're going to regret hurting a single member of my family!" Lori put Lynn's star into her phone's opening and closed the keypad. After a brief moment, it opened again, the star having vanished. She then inserted her own three tipped blue star, the keypad closing shut and she inserted the code.

"19-01-13-21-18-01-09."

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lori brought her cellphone to her ear, watching it vanish. A dark blue kabuto helmet appeared on her head with two golden horns on the front and a golden star on the center of it. Large, rectangular shoulder pads appeared on her upper arms, and mainly thick, yet light-weighted armor appeared all over her body, complete with metallic gloves.

"Lock in!" she called out as a large black visor covered her entire face. She resembled an old samurai. Upon drawing her sword, it changed into a curved long katana.

"Guardian Blue! Samurai Mode! Guardian of the essence that grants bravery to all life!" Lori aimed her sword for her brother's clone. The furious Linka retrieved her mask from her pocket, which she put back on her face.

"Let's Xeran Henshin!" she morphed instantly into Xerardian Red, with her large set of claws on her one guardian gauntlet duplicate. The oldest Loud was ready to give it her all, her hand gripped tightly around her sword handle. The two quickly charged for each other. Their weapons clashed as they struggled.

"I always thought you were too annoying for your age! I can't imagine how many beds you've been in that weren't your boyfriend's!" Linka insulted her in an attempt to try and break her guard. Guardian Blue paid the defamation of character little mind.

"You really are a mouthy brat. If you want to be like Lincoln, at least grow up!" Lori forced Xerardian Red's weapon to slide off her blade and stab into the ground. She began to hack and slash away, aiming mainly for the chest and arm of her mutant opponent, each hit causing a new deep wound that bled out sparks.

"Insipid blonde!" Linka tore a chunk of concrete out of the floor out and chucked it against Lori, sending her flying back a good distance. The fight had only begun, but the two were in for a long struggle. Lori only could hope the combined powers of her and her sibling's stars could come out on top in the end. She got ready with her sword prepared to continue the fight, hoping the others would be safe.

* * *

Lynn and Lisa had been able to get a great distance away from the mall, but it was hard to carry their unconscious siblings all the way there. Lynn was stunned when she found out that Leni and Luna were the ones under the two new guardian suits. They had morphed out of guardian mode shortly after they had escaped the abandoned mall.

"I can't go on anymore… My arms are at their limit," Lisa panted. She could not drag Lincoln any further. She sat on the ground, tired. Lynn rested their older sisters beside him. They were in a park surrounded by trees. They had only decided to go through it, as it seemed a lot safer to drag Lincoln along the ground due to how weak Lisa was physically.

"We can get our breath here… Whew… are you okay Lisa?" Guardian Black crouched down and looked over her. The prodigy was roughed up, but the worst damage was the very set of strangle bruises around her neck from when Linka tried to kill her in that confusing fit of anger.

"I've certainly felt better… physically, but not emotionally," the child prodigy claimed, though her neck was now sensitive to the touch, which really was frustrating. She had no clue how they could hide this from their parents. The best idea she had in mind was putting Lori and Leni's makeup skills to use to try and hide it at least slightly.

"Don't get upset. Lincoln will be fine. The Xeran really are getting crazy if they're just creating clones of us," Lynn said while looking over at their three siblings. All were out cold, yet they looked so at peace, but only Lincoln had a mind that was struggling to abruptly end his dream.

"I-I just cannot fathom that I might be the cause of a good percentage of dad's injuries… His clone was acting like my mother so much that it was so intimidating," Lisa whimpered.

"Hey, Lisa…" Lynn hugged her. Her little sister's words suddenly gave her an idea. "You don't have to worry about that crazy girl trying to be your mother. Lincoln's your dad, so I'll do my best to be your mom."

The child prodigy looked at her in amazement. Surprised Lynn would offer that, even if it was just for moral support. That relationship when forged with Lincoln made the two all the closer, he even seemed to live up to it truly well. Lisa happily returned the hug to Lynn, more than graciously accepting of the offer.

"Skree!"

A group of textoth came toward them, their jagged scimitars drawn. The conscious sisters were quick to notice, terrified from the screech alone. Guardian Black put her second youngest sister down. She stepped up and cracked her knuckles.

"I count twenty of them… I'll protect them," Lisa stated her ability to protect their unconscious siblings with Leni's blaster. It was not going to be at its full power, but it was more than enough to deal with the skeletal beings.

"Alright. Don't wait to take a few pot shots in the fight," Guardian Black claimed, not regretting leaving her star with Lori to give her an advantage in her own battle. She charged right for the horde of skeleton monster. The group was a lot smaller than the ones they usually fought lately.

"I'm not going to let you lay a single bony finger on them!" Lynn took two of the swords to each shoulder while tackling the group head on, grabbing three at once. She gritted her teeth, letting her vest absorb most of the blow. Guardian Black dug her feet into the ground and threw them up high, the textoth screeching in terror as they crashed into a few of their comrades.

Lynn grabbed one of the jagged scimitars and swung widely with it, slashing five of the textoth at once, making sparks fly off of their bodies. Through the rapid slashing spree though, the sporty Loud suddenly noticed the sword turn to dust in her hands. She groaned to herself, her expectations for it to last longer gone. A textoth tried sneaking up on her, only to be blasted in the back by a laser, creating a large scorch mark on its back and felling it easily.

"Thank goodness that the aiming assistance is functioning perfectly…" Lisa sighed in relief.

"Nice shot!" the gun added. She was starting to realize how irritating that could get to hear constantly. She planned on modifying the blaster's vocal capabilities when she could.

Lynn could see the last 12 textoth regroup, and begin to chatter to one another. They began to expel all of their essence from their bodies. The sporty Loud watched the textoth's bodies turn to dust as their essence formed together, gathering the dust to form it into a new body. Out came a giant textoth elite in the place of the dozen regular goons, twice the size of Lynn. She was terrified, having never had to deal with these elite textoth without being morphed before. "Oh… no…!"

"Let… let me help…" Lincoln groaned, catching the two active sisters' attention. He was trying to get back up, but the violent assault that he took from Linka made it almost impossible to.

"Don't be ridiculous, dad! You can't even sit up!" Lisa forced him back down, hearing him groan in pain. She saw his red curve-tipped star still firmly in his grasp. It gave her an immediate idea. She took it from him.

"How will they work…?" the super genius child put the red curve-tipped star onto the back of the blaster weapon and then put the white eight-tipped star on top of it.

"Boost! Ammo change! Midnight flare!" the gun echoed. Lisa did not recall programming half of his vocal commands. She was questioning the AI now.

"Midnight flare…. Here, Lynn! Use this!" the child prodigy threw the laser blaster to her. Lynn barely caught it, having to jump back as the giant skeleton monster punched its fist into the ground, breaking the dirt apart.

"I prefer my fists, but I think I'll make an exception for how unfair things are now," Lynn aimed the blaster for the textoth elite, pulling the trigger and watching the two stars begin to rapidly spin together in opposite directions. The blaster fired out a laser that had a spiraling wave of flames going up it.

"Graaaaagh!" the textoth elite stepped back in horrid pain, feeling his upper body light ablaze by the mere contact of the beam.

"That wasn't anything like a flare…" Lynn was disappointed, but then she noticed some crackles of fire flying off the giant textoth's body and landing on the ground, before suddenly exploding around its legs. The elite textoth screamed as it began to collapse. One explosion after another kept erupting from the flames. It collapsed in defeat, beginning to turn into dust.

"Whoa… that was awesome," Guardian Black went over and took a seat beside her brotherly boyfriend and their siblings, drained.

"Excellent performance as always, Lynn," Lisa complimented her while giving Lincoln his star back.

"What happened…? Is everyone okay?" Lincoln groaned to his four sisters, and he felt Lynn's hand grasping his trying to make him stay calm.

"Everyone is alright, but very exhausted… Lori will be, too, once she catches up," Lisa replied while resting her head on his chest. They could take it easy now that all the textoth were dealt with. They just hoped their oldest sibling would be alright against Linka.

"That's good…" Lincoln coughed with a smile, letting Lisa take care of his energy lacking body.

"I'm sorry…" Lisa thought to herself.

"I'm sorry for causing you all so much harm..."


	89. Family Protection 3

**Authors Note: I'm sorry for this chapter being shorter in length, there was no place better to end it off at. Anywhere further would have been not as impacting. I'm sorry for my last few chapters shortcomings if you have not liked them, I hope you enjoy all and take care.**

Lori had spent the last thirty minutes battling on end with Linka. The abandoned malls insides were torn apart in several areas. The oldest Loud was feeling better as time flew, as each passing minute of battle meant that her family was even safer.

"What's the matter? You can't cry for help?" the Samurai Mode Guardian taunted and slashed her blade across Xerardian Reds shoulder and chest, watching a burst of red essence escape from the wounds that were rapidly trying to heal.

"The majesty's generals weren't kidding. Every time they try to do something, one guardian after another appears!" Linka shouted in rage while slashing at Lori, only to have her set of large claws blocked, she was kicked away a good distance afterwards. Lincoln's doppelganger was turning weaker, but angrier.

"Xerardian finisher! Essence Reaver!" the Xeran human hybrid's claws lit ablaze with her fury as she charged for Guardian blue. Every time her feet hit the ground felt like a small tremor. Lori turned her back to her opponent, the angry charging teen not halting. Once Linka got close enough, Lori drew her blade from her side.

"Turning Scatter Slash!" Lori quickly spun around, her katana glowing bright blue. She brought it downward, cutting off Linka's entire arm. The claws shattered, and smoke erupted from the limb. Xerardian Red screamed in horror as she turned back to her human form, her mask falling from her face and clattering onto the floor.

"NO! I can't be out of anger! That's impossible! My hearts… my body… my mind…" Linka began to hyperventilate while on her knees, staring at her half-cut arm. Essence was bleeding out of it at a steady pace. This was a hard sight for Lori to look at. She practically saw Lincoln lying there looking mentally shattered. She had to constantly remind herself that it was a monstrous clone of her brother instead, to get through the battle.

"I'm going to finish this," the oldest Loud sibling said. Behind the solid black visor, it really did feel like she was about to murder a family member. She had to put the feelings aside. The sides of Loris kabuto helmet opened up, unveiling her and Lynn's stars. She took them both out, allowing the openings to shut back tightly.

"I'm going to make your death quick and painless," Guardian Blue put both stars on each side of the sword's hilt, watching them both begin to glow. A dark sheen encased the katana blade, and a blue glowing outline followed around that. Linka tried to stand on her feet, but could only stagger about weakly. Lori held her sword far out and slowly began to make a circle in the air. Both hands then gripped the handle of the blade.

"Guardian Finisher! Lunar Scatter! Engage!" Lori caused a moon to temporarily appear behind her. She slashed forward, straight down the middle of Linka's entire body. The hybrid child let out a scream of agony as she collapsed.

"Myyyyyyyyy essence!" She landed on her face and exploded into a large wave of fire. The essence of thousands escaped to the wind, presumably to be absorbed by the world itself.

"Whew… The Xeran really are upping their game," Lori sighed in relief, morphing back to normal. She pocketed the stars, and she retracted her sword and put it away. The oldest Loud noticed an essence sphere plink on the ground to her direction, she picked it up.

"I need to go find the others now," she rushed off in a hurry to get out of the abandoned and partially destroyed mall. Obliviously after she had left, the four other essence spheres were left in the flaming mess. The essence in the air began to come back down to them all, and the mask began to reform into a new body.

"Grah! Ahhh! Agh!" Linka began to cry as she revived in her human form, rolling onto her back and holding her chest in burning agony, with her Xerardian mask lying on her face. The hybrid teenager could see her organs being recreated before her very eyes, around the four majesty hearts she had within her. Then the muscle tissue formed, and her very own skeleton. It took hours for it to end and her body to be completely reborn.

"She… stole one of my hearts… what kind of duel gets interrupted by the likes of a multi-man rider like her?!" Linka coughed while lying there, staring at the ceiling in pain. Soon the sound of feet tapping against the half tired floor echoed out. She tilted her head back to see who came by.

"Zeggfor? What is it YOU want?"

"I came to tell you that your brothers were going to be done by tomorrow. I did not expect to find such a pathetic sight," Zeggfor chuckled, staring down at Linka, "I told you before that only I am suited to kill Guardian Red. You won't win by trying to capture him."

The grey horned monster held out his hand to her, allowing red essence to begin spiraling up his arm and around his hand. He was offering his anger to the mutant duplicate.

"This, coming from an idiotic warrior who's failed more times than all the other generals combined," Linka grabbed his hand, reluctantly absorbing his rage-filled essence for her own. However, she began to take a lot more than he was offering. She was attempting to steal every last drop from him.

"Get off me, you ugly half-breed!" Zeggfor punched the Xeran human hybrid in the face, finally breaking her grip on him and knocking her back to the ground.

"Oof! Gack!" Linka felt his foot against her throat crushing her to the ground. It would not be able to kill her, but he was furious over the fact she was not hesitating to break out of her position or oppose her superiors.

"BelGaner swore to make you three capable of killing the guardians, and all you managed to do was eat plastic and burn toys. Before you ask how I knew that, it was because I was watching from the third floor. That was all I could formally do. After all, it wouldn't be right for me to interfere with the one poaching my nemesis!" Zeggfor swung hard, kicking her in the side of the head and knocking her across the floor, skidding a short distance. Linka coughed while standing up, rubbing her sore jaw.

"I'm… the child of anger and hatred! No matter what you do, you'd never be able to take any of the guardian's essences! Guardian Red is mine, Zeggfor! Now that I'm here, I'll be more than happy to devour all the essence he has for myself!" Linka took her morphing mask off her face and put it away. She began to laugh hysterically. "That's what you hate about me, Zeggfor! It's that I'm better than you! That I can do something you won't be able to do for a million years! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Zeggfor clutched his fist, shaking his head as he turned his back to her, heading away. Her laugh continued to echo out. Yet her taunting him, was making him feel more sympathetic for her, instead of just angry.

"The majesty risked his life to create these abominations. I've never felt so much like a failure to him in my entire existence," the general of offense opened up a portal in the air and walked into it to return to the Xeran's dimension, Linka rushing up to follow along with an evil grin, excited for her siblings' completion.

"I'll deal with you soon, Zeggy… don't you worry!"


	90. Peaceful Aftermath

**Authors Note: Thank you all again, for helping this story reach 45K views, over 600 reviews, and 90 chapters. I'm sorry for disappointing those with the most recent chapters, I do feel horrible for letting so many down. I hope you all take care.**

"Well, this report is leaving me filled with joy, anger, sadness and disappointment all at the same time! However, the fact that this report's not written is where most of the sadness is coming from," General Eugene stood in his office of the outpost nearby at a desk. Lincoln sat there holding one hand tightly on the essence transfer device. Two soldiers were seated on the other side, holding other parts of the handles of it. They were donating their essence to Guardian Red, not a lot of it but hopefully enough to help him along.

"English class is not one of my specialties," Lincoln replied lightly, his mood drastically improved. Lori had caught up to the other guardians and informed them that Linka had been defeated, with her stolen essence sphere as proof of her victory. It made them all rejoice.

"I won't judge a hero for their shortcomings, but I'd appreciate at least telling me when to get a tape recorder," the half robotic general requested. Lincoln nodded, agreeing to do that from now on whenever any more reports had to be done.

"Thanks, you two," Lincoln said to the two soldiers and released the essence transfer device, watching the essence they had donated to him be absorbed up his arm and into his body. He was feeling a lot better already, his horrid wounds having already been treated by the several medical staff that had been on sight and ready to go for any given situation.

"No thank you for keeping the world safe sir," the first soldier responded. They both saluted, glad to be of help, and they turned away to leave the room. Lincoln was unsure how to feel with being praised like this. Being treated as one of five warriors saving the world was a lot different than being treated as one random suit wearing vigilante as the media at first tried to make him out to be. The main difference in the treatments that he noticed was how irritable the talk show hosts became when the guardians were brought up.

"Now if only I could relax. My family is safe and my crazy clone is dead, yet I feel more unsafe than ever," Lincoln mused aloud, holding his head tiredly. He noticed the augmented general flipping through documents on another matter entirely, which appeared to be related to types of gun braces.

"I'm guessing it's because that hybrid spoke about her… 'brothers'?" General Eugene asked. The middle Loud child nodded, unsure how to feel about it, but began to grow wide eyed when a sole train of thought entered his head.

"Oh gosh… What if she has more brothers in mind than there are guardians…? What if the Xeran start sending out a hundred clones of random people from Royal Woods, starting with my family!?" Lincoln panted. There would be a time when he had to brawl against his own family members on an extended basis, even if they were just clones. He was horrified, feeling unable to bring himself to do such a thing, should the occurrence arise.

"That is an understandable fear. All I can tell you son is that whatever comes, we'll be there to support you against it. If only phone communications had not been down today… my men would have flooded that mall to fight alongside you," General Eugene assured. He too knew how horrifying it was that the clones could create Xeran Elites without essence spheres, produce textoth and have their own guardian suits.

"I need to go talk to my family… General, can you do me a favor and make the science crew aware that I need my 'personal request' done immediately?" Lincoln reiterated what he had once stated during the use of the E.T.D.

"Lincoln, don't you worry," the general nodded his head in assurance, "I may not know what your plans with this thing are, but hopefully when the boys down in the lab start assembling it, the thing'll become a lot clearer."

"Heh… can't say I'm surprised," Lincoln picked up the essence transfer device before beginning to head off to another part of the outpost. He could hear the sounds of a guitar being played heavily. A lot of the soldiers around the base looked happy to be hearing the music. The moral boost of any kind was great to them all. Lincoln soon enough arrived to the infirmary, where he could see all five of his sisters treated and looking refreshed.

"Dad! Are you feeling better?" Lisa was the first to greet Lincoln as she hopped out from the medical bed and went over to him. He happily picked her up.

"A lot better. I told the general you're to be escorted home from now on when you leave the lab," Lincoln stated. He had to make those preparations just in case. Lisa understood it as well. As long as the soldiers were not walking her to the front door of their home, she had no problems with it. She tried to protect herself when she was first kidnapped, but was ultimately unable to.

"'Ey, there's the first hero of the world," Luna laughed lightly, resting her guitar aside now that it was back to normal.

"Really? Where?" Leni looked around before wincing in pain, having accidentally undone some stitches on her shoulder that a doctor had been administrating. The military doctor forced her to lie back down, looking annoyed.

"I'm still not happy with you two becoming guardians," Lori repeated, almost as if instantly the three began arguing. Lynn held her head as she went over to Lincoln and Lisa, she leaned over to her brotherly boyfriend.

"Hey, Lincoln… Do you think this is a good time to tell them? About us?" Guardian Black requested to tell their other two sisters about their relationship. Leni knew about the sporty Loud's feelings for the young boy, but not their relationship now. Lisa was not too sure about this.

"Sure!" Lincoln happily replied with a bright smile on his face. His sisterly girlfriend was taken aback by his quick agreement. She was happy that he was up to it, but he had no hesitation or fears about it. It felt to him like saving Lisa made everything bad in the world go away from his mind. Lincoln rested the child prodigy back down.

"Hey, Billy!" Lincoln shouted into the hall over the noise of his three older sisters arguing. One soldier popped his head through the doorway, raising an air horn and pressing the button down, letting out a loud blare that silenced most of them, as well as nearly deafened the few closest to him. He stopped after a few seconds.

"Thanks Billy," Guardian Red gave a thumbs up, the soldier saluting before going back to his task. Whereabouts he was carrying the seemingly endless supply of air horns was beyond their comprehension, probably the same method that Luan hid her almost infinite pies.

"It's a gracious thing that Luna's meticulous guitar practice has strengthened our eardrums' durability," Lisa adjusted the temporary glasses. She was stuck wearing these librarian's pilfered spectacles until she could get back home to where her spares were. Lori had already covered up the bruises on her neck with makeup. She looked like she never had even been touched by Linka's mitts.

"Owww… what was that for?" Leni whined as the doctor finally finished up treating her, going to leave the room to let them talk privately since he assumed that was going on.

"That was loud, even for me," Luna groaned.

"What is it, you two?" Lori requested the sibling couple to get to the point.

"We wanted to tell Leni and Luna that we… errr…" Lynn began to freeze up. She lost her nerve when the precise time to speak their hearts arose.

"We're dating now, and have been for the last month or so," Lincoln cut straight to the point, and immediately to prove it, he brought a great kiss to Lynn's lips. She was amazed with his straight forwardness, since he was normally so awkward as well as sheepish. Lori felt just as uncomfortable as she did the first time she heard it. Luna could only stare wide-eyed at the two making out. Leni though clapped her hands in joy with a great big smile on her face.

"Oh my gosh! I was waiting for him to tell you how he felt! I told you it'd be fine!" Leni exclaimed as the two's make out session ended, Lincoln content and Lynn greatly embarrassed. Lisa made not even the shortest comment to such a thing.

"Whoa… uh… bro…sis... that's gonna take time to get used to, but as long as you're both happy, why should I care? It's not my personal life," Luna declared. She was not completely supportive of this, but she was going to let them do as they pleased, as Lori did. They were old enough to protect the world. Therefore they could handle their relationship themselves. If they needed help, then their siblings would be glad to give it to them.

"Thanks, but I am really happy now," Lincoln insisted, holding Lynn's hand, until she noticed the time.

"Luna… isn't your concert starting in two hours?" Lynn's words silenced the entire room. Everyone looked to each other. Luna's concert was tonight, and that event alone made the day even brighter for the Loud siblings, even more so that Lisa was able to attend this night. Lori rubbed her forehead, glad to have taken Vanzilla to go on her date with Bobby, even if she had dampened the mood of that date drastically right at the end of it.

"I'll get the car…"


	91. Concert

It had taken half an hour to get to the concert in time right now. The Loud family were all gathered, those who were guardians, the Guardian Project leader Lisa herself, and those who were unaware of those involved with the Guardian Project. After arriving, Luna had gone straight off to get ready backstage, though she never imagined she would be wearing makeup for covering injuries.

"Hey, Lincoln!" Clyde chimed up. Lincoln was glad that his friends had decided to put the tickets he had given them to use, though he could not see Ronnie Anne with his best friend. He felt concerned, but also aggravated, since he needed to talk to her personally.

"Hey, Clyde! Sorry for being late," Lincoln apologized. He had agreed over the phone to meet his friend here an hour before the concert, just to find the best spots to watch it from, but the best spots were always available thanks to Luna.

"It's fine, bro, but jeez… you look beaten badly. Did something happen again?" Clyde wondered. The Loud family was still trying to get settled in their seats. Lincoln, after finding his seat, pulled out his cellphone and handed it over to his friend to show him the image.

"The bruises are the only thing you can see right now. Trust me, underneath a layer of makeup is one heck of a scarred hero," Lincoln showed him the photograph of him in the medical wing of the military outpost with the three long gashes across his entire face from when Linka savagely assaulted him. It was disturbing that he was smiling while talking about it and in the very same photo, but reassuring that he won the clash in the end.

"Well hey… at least you'll look fine when they heal. It's a good thing Lori is so good with makeup," Clyde smiled as he returned the cellphone. His best friend shook his head, looking a bit saddened.

"There are a lot of injuries on me you can't see right now… When they start to heal, makeup won't be able to cover them. They'll be full blown scars. I asked three different doctors at the outpost about it…" Guardian Red stated. His chest was probably the most harmed part of his body underneath his shirt that had been hiding all these wounds. the three long claw marks across his face were going to always be viewable by everyone. The young Loud glanced over his shoulder to his family. "I want to tell them everything."

"Do you? …then mind telling me why before you go doing anything without thinking? I know you're acting as Lisa and Lily's dad… and dating Lynn while trying to keep the world safe… but could you really handle your entire family knowing you're superheroes?" Clyde did not judge him for wanting to tell his family everything, but clearly the motives behind it were concerning. It did sound a bit odd to risk telling the family one thing, only for them all to find it out, but then there might be more discoveries after another.

"Because… there's going to be a time when I can't fight anymore… what if this war against the Xeran goes on for decades? Both sides doing the same thing over and over, without any real rest… The side that takes the biggest risk usually wins, right? I feel like my body's going weaker each day, but if I can keep them all safe then…" Lincoln was unable to continue as he leaned over the railing, letting out an exhale of his own frustration. His brotherly best friend registered and understood what he was implying.

"Lincoln, quit talking like an idiot!" his best friend suddenly delivered a hard punch to Lincoln's right cheek, knocking him flat down. Those words had upset Clyde immensely. Talking about self-sacrifice by the hands of an enemy was a horrible topic.

"Sheesh… I've lost three teeth already, dude. Is this an early birthday present?" Lincoln coughed, holding his cheek with one hand. That smile on his face was not changing at all. He was not far off on his question either, as his birthday was coming up in a few weeks. To Clyde, his friend sounded like he had no care about his life now, about putting his life on the line for the world and his family, or to just make on large dent against the enemy, but leaving a grievous wound in the world and his families' hearts, a wound that would leave them broken beyond repair.

"Sorry about upsetting you," Lincoln apologized. He was noticing his family catching onto the fight, but motioned them that it all was okay.

"I'm sorry for hitting you… But Ronnie Anne isn't here. She stayed at home because Bobby was upset over something that happened between him and Lori," Clyde stated. Lincoln guessed that his oldest sister had to be a bit crueler with her boyfriend to just come and help them all during Lisa's kidnapping.

"Don't sweat it… The concert's about to start, so come on," Lincoln reassured. He did not mind lately that a lot of people wanted to hit him. It seemed maybe for a good reason or a horrible reason. He never would know nor cared to find out. The two could see Luna stepping onto the stage. Lincoln would worry about talking to Ronnie Anne about the unfortunate circumstances surrounding her guardian suit at school, at the following Monday.

"There comes Luna! Settle down, kids," Mr. Loud told the family. Lincoln sat down with his still beaming smile, taking Lily out of his mother's hands to let her get a break.

"Is everything okay, you two?" Rita asked her son and his best friend.

"You two looked like you were about to duke it out," Lana said looking disappointed. She did not get to witness a fight, and she was frankly addicted to seeing the guardians' battles on the news and all other social media.

"Just friends doing friend things. No need to worry," Lincoln replied. That response seemed to disappoint poor Lana. Lily babbled her usual baby gibberish. Lincoln laughed lightly, rubbing her head as they watched their rock loving sibling step onto stage, her guitar ready.

"Wow… we've got quite a crowd. For my first concert, I'm really nervous, but I still feel bad for making you all wait so long. So how about we start this show off?" Luna offered with a strum of her guitar. Lincoln noticed that she was using the star form of the guitar, implying to him that she had grown quite fond of the guardian guitar since he gave her it. They heard the crowd begin cheering eagerly in agreement, and they watched her begin to play, and just like she promised, the best came first.

 _ **"Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to greet the vast sea of beamin' smiles!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to cleanse the world of these sick crooks so vile!"**_

Barely at the beginning, and the song was making everyone applaud. Lincoln began to laugh to himself. Lynn, Lori, Lisa and Leni knew why. The song that she had made in secret was inspired by not only the guardians, but becoming a guardian as well, to be more fueled by her passion.

 _ **"Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to blaze brightly for all our lives!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to give us the love we need to survive!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to give us the strength to live!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to bring peace to our world!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough star!**_

 _ **Fight to fill everyone with energy!**_

 _ **Fight on, tough stars!**_

 _ **Fight to make the distant cosmos shine once more!"**_

The crowd roared with joy for the song. Lincoln could see how happy his family was. He was glad to have five guardians all ready and able to help protect the world with the courage they held within their hearts.

"Don't get comfy folks," Luna called, basking in the joyous cheering.

"The show's just begun!"


	92. Pathetic

It was another normal Monday in Royal Woods. The Guardian Project now had five members with Lisa at the helm of leading their creation. She could not be any prouder either. Things had been calm since they had defeated Linka, with no monster sightings at all during Sunday. It did not stop everyone from keeping their guards completely up and sharp eyes out to make sure there was no Xeran activity.

"Well that was easy," Lincoln stretched while leaving one of his classrooms. Barely a few steps into the hall, and the whispering was back full force. He had not bothered with makeup Sunday morning, and thus gave his entire family a horrific fright. He had gotten away by lying about the long claw marks coming from one of the neighborhood cats attempting to attack Cliff. They bought the lie, but still began their method of waiting on him hand and foot once again. Lincoln though accepted it, since he needed to recover as much as he could.

"Hey, Linc!" Lynn waved to him from down the hall. He gladly came over to his sisterly girlfriend. She was dawning her guardian gear, as she usually did. Lincoln gave her a quick hug as a greeting. She looked a lot better with that day's rest, though he knew his entire half Guardian family would be upset with him when they found out what he had requested of General Eugene and Lisa to create. Even the child prodigy herself refused to help it, until a long discussion took place between the two.

"How'd the science test go for you?" Lynn broke their embrace and went to open her locker to exchange her books.

"I'm confident that I got a B-," Lincoln replied. Science was not his specialty, but spending so much time helping out Lisa had taught him a lot.

"That's good for you, at least," his sisterly girlfriend sighed, wishing she was that confident. Science was not a strong suit of hers. She anticipated a C+ if she was lucky.

"Speaking of which, have you seen Ronnie Anne? I need to talk to her, but we don't have any classes together today," Lincoln still remembered his plan to go discuss something important with the Santiago girl privately. Lynn nodded, pointing toward the back exit of the school.

"I saw her outside. She looked really exhausted," Lynn claimed. She only knew that because the other students were talking about Ronnie Anne. She was getting negative rumors spread about her now. It was contrasting how Lincoln was receiving positive rumors for looking like he had gone to hell and back. He never knew how popular injuries could make anybody. It was quite depressing in actuality.

"Thanks, Lynn. I'll see you at lunch," Lincoln headed off. Guardian Black watched him as he left. She wanted to continue her normal routine, but something in her head was pestering her to see what this private or personal talk was about. She closed her locker, and went to follow her brotherly boyfriend from a distance.

* * *

It only took Lincoln a couple minutes to get outside to the back of the school. His sister was correct. Ronnie Anne was seated at one of the few benches and tables, resting her upper body on it, her head lying on her arms. The tables were just available for students to eat outside if they wanted to. The Santiago girl looked far more than exhausted. She looked deprived of any traces of joy.

"Ronnie Anne? Are you alright?" Lincoln called out to her as he stepped up behind her. The teenage Santiago sighed while sitting straight up, tiredly.

"I'm really drained. I got into a hard fight yesterday."

"What? Did you get hurt bad? Who fought against you?" the lone Loud boy asked. He could see that she did not have any bruises on her face. A few scratches and scrapes, but nothing that would be caused by a supposed rough battle. He was hoping it meant that his ex-girlfriend had won it with relative ease.

"You're giving me a bad headache… It was those skeleton freaks," Ronnie Anne lifted up the side of her shirt, revealing that her lower side and a lot of her back was all slashed up and torn apart viciously by the very blades the textoth used. Lincoln almost had to sit down upon seeing the sight of her injuries.

"What?! The textoth?! Why did you go fighting them without calling me for help? Did you have a death wish?!" Lincoln scolded the Santiago girl, only to get a menacing glare from him.

"Do you have a death wish?" Ronnie Anne retorted. Her ex-boyfriend bit his lip. The anger flowing in his blood right now was not even hesitating to express its presence.

"No! I mean… kind of?" Lincoln murmured. He really had no clue himself. He already had been decked by Clyde Saturday for even suggesting making a major dent in the enemy forces at the risk of his own life.

"Then there's my answer," Ronnie Anne huffed while resting her head in her hands, "The textoth were trying to set up some micro-base or something in a closed building. Problem is, kids use it as a shortcut to avoid wasting time at crosswalks. A few walked in at a bad time. The textoth started trying to slaughter them. They came running out, screaming and crying, but almost nobody had the guts to help."

Ronnie Anne rubbed her right eye. Recalling it alone made her feel sick. Lincoln recognized that look all too well. He himself shared it after the first time he found so many people's lives on the verge of ending.

"The only person who tried to help was an off duty police officer. I went in with him to help, but during the fight, one of those skeleton freaks snuck up on me and got me across the back. When it tried to finish me off, the officer got between us and took the blade," she continued, trying her best not to remember that last look on the dying man's face. He could see her attempts to not cry, "Before I knew it, I had picked up one of the unconscious skeleton's swords and took the cop's gun and ammo. Everything went blank afterwards. The fight was so long, but it felt like it had finished so fast. I can't even remember how I survived before I collapsed outside the building, beaten up like some walking sandbag…"

"You did good, Ronnie Anne. Especially for not being able to morph… I know you're fighting against your body's need to rest, just like I always do, but try to at least take it easy for me? Please?" Lincoln pleaded, but his ex-girlfriend did not respond. He understood that promises were not a strong suit of hers, especially with how horrible things had become for their relationship now. He sat down beside her, hugging her with one arm.

"They can't take my essence for some reason… that was the only reason they didn't go trying to kill me right away," Ronnie Anne sighed. It was upsetting for her to realize it, but she had no idea otherwise why they would not have tried to kill her instantly. "Guess I'll be able to be a decent guardian at least when I get my suit."

"Oh… About that…" Lincoln paused, "I'm sorry, but it's going to take a lot longer to complete than we thought."

"Why? What happened?" Ronnie Anne looked at him, irritated. The young boy took a moment to get himself mentally prepared.

"I… gave the suit to Luna. She and Leni are now guardians," he hesitantly informed her. The Santiago girl stood up, enraged by this.

"Jeez, Lincoln… How many of your sisters are you trying to recruit into this mess? Are you building a harem?" Ronnie Anne could only say while keeping her back to him. The young boy groaned, wishing she would quit making jokes like that.

"I had no choice! Lisa got kidnapped by some mutant clone of mine, and I needed the help! I couldn't call anybody, because a Xeran Elite made the phones in town stop working," Lincoln went into more detail, but still no response. He couldn't take the ignorance now.

"Oh, for the sake of… Can you quit being so pathetic?!" his tone rose to rival Luna's, but the anger in it could be compared to that of Lori.

"You're calling me pathetic?!" Ronnie Anne retorted. Now she was facing him, "You stopped caring about people! You care about making sure they live, but you don't give a damn about what happens to them after that! You're no hero, just a selfish idiot trying to keep only yourself and your family safe!"

Lincoln stared her down in response. "If I really was uncaring, then I wouldn't have picked up this gauntlet. I wouldn't be going out of my way to save anybody. I've grown my heart and brain, Ronnie Anne. Didn't you, too? You're only mad because I don't want to get back together with you. You can't think outside of that tiny bubble around you, and get upset if you don't get what you want! Whenever I see you being a jerk to Bobby, I keep lying to myself that it was some strange family issue, since as far as I know; he's practically your dad! I don't know why I keep giving you chances, I have no idea why I have hope for you, even Lola is more mature than you!"

Ronnie Anne could only bite her quivering lip. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to maim him. But all she could bring herself to do was turn her back to him and walk away.

"I know how hard it is to change, Ronnie Anne… but this is what becoming guardians has done to each of us. It's made us grow up. It's made us change for the better. If you can't do any of that, you're not going to do well as a guardian... But I have no intention of depriving you of being a guardian, you'll be one, eventually." Lincoln sat back down and spoke to the empty air around him. Things were so much better months ago before breaking up. They all now seemed like the opposite of normal people, with the constant pressure of making tough decisions under the heaviest moments.

"Lincoln…" Lynn could only stare from her hiding spot, feeling that she would do nothing but make the situation far worse for him. She headed off to get to her next class, to let her boyfriend sort out his own inner demons.

"I'll be there for you… if you need it."


	93. Unwanted Freedom?

**Authors Note: I apologize for the last few chapters being so bad to you all, I apologize and like stated prior. This story is nearing the end. Take care all!**

"Your majesty?" Teronzata peeked his head through the throne room door. Unfortunately the Xeran leader was still in his deep slumber. The plant monster hoped that maybe one of these times when he would come check up on him, their leader would be back on his feet and bringing order to the chaos going on in the eldritch realm.

"Oh, woe is me… I cannot handle training that… that barbarian anymore! He doesn't respect the sword, or the honor code!" the general of defense complained. One of Linka's brothers, one who was cloned based on Lori, seemed to be an unending stream of energy who just wanted to keep training while improving his swordplay. Teronzata left his forced student in the training room to brutalize as many textoth as he wanted to. Linka's other brother, Lynn's clone, was also there trying to get buff, so he was constantly fighting Zeggfor, and that general disliked it immensely.

"I'm with you there… These hybrid creatures are out to replace us, and they haven't even existed for a week yet!" Mirayu said while looking at herself in the mirror. She had been off to the side for the same reason the swordsman was, to make sure the majesty was alright. The textoth were on guard, and being observant and paranoid for their leader's health.

"I don't believe our positions as generals is under threat at all… however, I still believe we gave these half children of the majesty's too many of his hearts," Shedun entered into the throne room, looking to be the most moderately angered of them all. Surprisingly, Zeggfor seemed the calmest out of the generals, forced training aside.

"Yes… well, while Linka recovers and her brothers are trained, it appears to be up to one of us to issue a plan," Teronzata declared. Shedun and Mirayu agreed, though they had no idea where BelGaner was. He seemed to have just vanished. Perhaps it was just part of his plan that he was developing.

"Since there are now five guardians, I believe it is time we send out more generals at a time. Teronzata, Shedun, let me just say I hate you two the most out of all the generals, so let's work together to make a horrific time for Royal Woods," the general of emotions declared. The textoth around cheered, Mirayu's mask showing nothing but bright joy as it did most of the time.

"What a marvelous idea!" Teronzata pointed to the sky, "The greatest swordsman in the world can have that fated rematch with my second former student!"

"You idiots took this long to come to realization that MAYBE we would have stood a stronger chance of dominating this dimension, if we had not held back once," Shedun huffed. Even if it was the majesty's orders due to the four other generals losing his trust from the last dimensions war was lost, it was still asinine to the half jawed monster.

"Well… a good knight does not question the king they serve," the floral swordsman fiddled with his top hat. Mirayu agreed with him, only obeying the one she loved. The two watched as the general of the prison pulled out the large key ring, that clattered as the keys were hitting against one another.

"I have the perfect idea in mind for whom to put to use. Come with me," Shedun said, most of the textoth following the three generals as they headed to the prison. The skeleton monsters felt terror up their spines as they knew who the prison general was referring to. Three of the worst prisoners that had caused nothing but chaos for the entire Xeran race, and had even made the majesty slightly fear them.

"They're being contained at the bottom most ends of the prison away from each other, correct?" Mirayu asked. They could see the lots of prisoners looking quite depressed or lifeless, despite their extended lifespan thanks to their Xeran properties.

"To my recollection, the three of them are kept apart, but not that much in length. Otherwise they shut down from depression," Shedun recalled, "They are the only prisoners that really got any form of thought put into their captivity."

* * *

One long walk later, they had arrived to the very end of the prison where things were far darker, gloomier and dustier than the rest of the prison.

"Gather their items," Shedun ordered, and his two fellow generals got to work.

Mirayu went and picked up a small hourglass. The hourglass body itself looked to be made out of an odd metal, holding in the center the glass frame that had bright golden sand trapped inside it. Teronzata grabbed a thick artist's book. All the pages were blank, with a set of odd looking paint brushes being attached beside it. Shedun picked up a mere magician's wand, which had a common texture of black smooth coloring with white ends, just as any other magic wand would. After a few moments, they were able to open up all three prison cells. Two of the individuals stepped out of them.

"I don't recall there ever being a chance to get out of these prisons once you are sentenced to them," an elder white-haired bearded man coughed. He looked like a monk who had been abducted from his temple. Beside him stood a rather youthful woman with unnatural pink hair.

"Does the majesty need entertainment?" she quirked, almost expecting them to be dragged out to be put on as jesters for the Xeran leader, and once they were finished, they would be thrown right back into the cells.

"No, but we need you three to… Wait… where is the young one?" Teronzata scratched his head. He saw only two humans with Xeran powers from other dimensions out of three. They were Xeran Elites so devastating that the majesty feared they would betray the Xeran race, so he had them all locked away.

"You! Your bars are opened! Step out and be proud to be granted freedom," Shedun shouted. After a few moments, they saw a little girl with orange messy hair wander out from the prison cell, she was in a tattered dress made from rags.

"Who is this? She looks... destroyed. What did you do to her while she was in captivity?" Mirayu interrogated one of the skeleton warriors. The textoth all looked between one another. They had done the usual routine for all prisoners in the eldritch realm, which was to bring them food daily and make sure they weren't about to die from any abrupt condition. Otherwise, they gave them no interaction.

"It's no matter. You three are to take your items and to get to work," Shedun ordered. The three were forced to take up their individual items. Only the pink haired woman twirling the magic wand seemed enthusiastic about it.

"I'm not sure if I have the same touch as I used to with my talents…" the elder coughed while straightening his back, staring down at the hourglass in his hand. The little girl had tried to wander back into her prison cell after dropping her paint tools and art book, but she could not return to the confines of the prison when the cell doors were closed once again.

"As the greatest swordsman in the world, I shall lead this operation with Shedun's help. Mirayu can aid Zeggfor in training the three hybrids," Teronzata announced. The general of emotions groaned. She was in a losing situation. She would either take care of three various humans with Xeran abilities or deal with the narrow-mindedly, guardian essence-thirsty clones.

"Fine! I'll stay, but only for the majesty's sake!" Mirayu stomped off, leaving the two other generals behind with only half of the textoth in their care.

"Now then. Let us begin our work!" Shedun ordered.

"If I must burden father time once again, then I shall…" the elder groaned while gripping the hourglass tightly in his hand. After a brief moment, he changed into a Xeran elite with a body resembling a white robe. The hourglass had grown a lot bigger, with a long pole attached to the side. It was now a hammer to be viable at crushing anyone in his way.

"Xeran-kedabra!" the pink haired girl had a small burst of smoke and confetti engulf her. When it cleared, a monster resembling a magician stood there in a top hat with a short cape, but a black and white suit underneath it.

"I don't wanna…" the little girl murmured while lying on her empty paged art book like it was a pillow. The four monsters looked down at her. The other two prisoners were not going to raise a finger against her. She was dangerous and a part of the renown threatening trio for good reason, but they were not going to force her to do anything she did not want to actively participate in.

"This isn't good… this young one looks like she has just… given up on everything, quite the contradiction to how she was prior to our last meeting." Teronzata stated, "I believe we must find the source of her ailment, or else Xeradabra and Xime will be forced to fight with only half of their power."

"I hate children…" Shedun groaned, holding his head, but he agreed. For someone appearing only four years old in age, she acted like she had suffered a lifetime of depression. They were in no position to simply throw this child back into the prison cell like they ever so wanted.

"Fine. Let's see if we can find a compromise."


	94. Fire Fighter

**Authors Note: I wanted to apologize all, the story is now updating on a 2 day basis now. I apologize again. Hope you enjoy an take care!**

Lincoln wandered through another part of Royal Woods's southern section. Supposed reports of Xeran activity according to Lisa was spread, but thankfully, no Xeran were found. But criminal activity was still involved to an extent. Guardian Red had to beat up criminals, complete thugs who shot at him. All alone, too. Lynn had gone home to be on standby in case something popped up in another area of town. That way she could just round up Leni, Lori and Luna instantly without the worry for cellphones being jammed getting in the way. Luna though was now being called by dozens of different music companies trying to recruit her. It made him feel bad for interrupting her career with this guardian duty he had her swear to uphold.

"I never thought I'd be doing anything but Xeran fighting as a guardian, but today proved me wrong," Lincoln mused to himself. It seemed like the world wanted to prove every little thing wrong. He took a seat on a bench, wanting to regain his drained energy. He was more lost in his own thoughts and worries about Linka's supposed siblings' approach to fruition, if his insane clone was not making things up. He believed in all of his optimistic heart that Lori had slaughtered the doppelganger.

Lincoln lay back on the bench, closing his eyes, wanting to take in the calm atmosphere while he could. At this point the Guardians were all on edge, waiting for the next Xeran activity. Soon the sound of loud sirens filled the air.

"Huh?" Guardian Red looked down the road, seeing two fire engines coming his way with an ambulance not too far behind them. It only took another half moment to look in the air to see a massive thick cloud of dark smoke rising to the air. It was best to not wait idly. This might be the Xeran's doing, and even if it wasn't, he believed he could do something to help.

* * *

"Whoa… What happened?!" Lincoln could only gasp upon arriving to the scene. There was a large apartment complex engulfed in flames that blazed out of control. He had not seen any signs of smoke in the sky until now, even when he was walking earlier. This almost had seemingly come out of nowhere and had escalated in mere minutes. There were a lot of people gathered around while the firemen were getting ready to combat the furious blazes.

"They won't get anywhere near inside until they calm the fire down… what happened to the fire escape?" Lincoln thought to himself. It only took a short detour to the side of the building from the safe distance, and he could see that the fire escape had fallen off from seemingly old age and uncaring maintenance. He took a look around, and all eyes were on the fire. He took in a breath thinking he could at least help, he got out his red curve-tipped star before inserting it into the back of his gauntlet.

"Guardian Mode! Engage! Lock in!" He quickly locked his helmet securely into place and made the visor close to cover his upper face. He made his way toward the fire. The firemen looked ecstatic to see a guardian there. Guardian Red readily shouldered the entrance door open, and ran straight into the inferno.

"Dad? What's going on? Your suit's sensors are detecting immense waves of heat," Lisa spoke through the communicator. Lincoln had to jump back when a piece of furniture fell through the burning ceiling and almost landed on him.

"I'm in an apartment that's on fire! I'm trying to help out here! The place just caught a blaze from nowhere," he explained while heading for the stairs to help evacuate the remaining people, or at least make sure nobody was left behind. He heard banging coming from the nearby elevators.

"Help! Please! Anybody! The doors are stuck!" the voice of a man cried out among the other two apartment inhabitants inside the elevator.

"Alright dad, just be cautious. Your suit should keep you safe as long as you don't directly stay in any large flames. I must warn you though, that this fire is blazing at an unusually high temperature, much hotter than most cremation furnaces," Lisa warned him. It did nothing to him but raise worry that the Xeran were involved. The only thing making them think otherwise was the lack of purpose to random arson, as the Xeran could just destroy the building with their powers.

"Thanks honey," Lincoln gritted his teeth while grabbing the doors of the elevator and beginning to force them apart with his combined strength. The doors were able to be pried apart enough for the trapped individuals to escape.

"Thank you so much!" they all were relieved to be free from suffocating inside that metal box.

"Don't worry about it. Now go head out through the front entrance," Guardian Red replied. The doors he had busted down were the safest route to escape, combined with the fire fighters' efforts. The three immediately headed off in a rush. Guardian Red in turn made his way upstairs.

* * *

For the first three floors, it seemed like most people had evacuated at the first signs of this horrid inferno. There was one floor left for him to search.

"Got any ideas here for the fire, Lisa? It's getting worse!" Lincoln requested. The hallway was cut off by a large ocean of flames. He could not even see the other end. He needed way to get this fire put out if he wanted to help save the building. He had no escape routes due to the fire escapes being destroyed.

"There seems to be a large sized water tank on the roof full of rainwater. It is a part of the apartment's natural water advertisement," Lisa explained from what she gathered. The whole rainwater's cleanliness was a sell's ploy to be used as a major excuse to charge a somewhat ridiculous rent.

"So I just gotta get to the roof huh? Alright… but first, I have to get through here," Lincoln scratched his helmet-covered head before noticing a fire extinguisher on the wall near the middle of the fire. Guardian Red had an idea. He charged right into the flames, ignoring what Lisa had ordered him to do earlier. He barely took a few steps in, and his entire body felt like it was being boiled alive.

"Ow ow gah! Almost… there!" Lincoln swung his clawed gauntlet, slashing three large gashes into the fire extinguisher. It instantly erupted into a large explosion of extinguisher foam. His guardian suit protected him from any threatening shrapnel. In seconds, the hallway's uncontrollable blaze was dissipated.

"Ohhhh… much better," Lincoln let out an exhale of relief, feeling the cooling foam covering his whole body. He continued toward the end of the hall so he could rush straight up for the roof.

"Huh?" he finally reached the roof. The fire was not able to reach this highest point of the building. A tank was set there containing the water, balancing on a few metal legs. But what was catching his attention was the young girl sitting on the middle of that roof.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lincoln quickly approached worriedly, getting in front of the orange haired child in a tattered raggedy dress. The very young girl was just painting away into her art book, dabbing a small amount of essence into her paintbrush from her hand to make the paints.

"This child is extremely interesting… Is she Xeran? Is she giving off any hostile auras?" Lisa asked. Guardian Red was concerned. The little painter seemed innocent, but the situation they were in was tense as ever.

"No, but she sure isn't acknowledging me either… I'll help her out after the fire is dealt with," Lincoln aimed his guardian gauntlet at the water tank, and let his red essence begin to fill the gauntlet.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst! Engage!" he fired his red curve-tipped star, watching it go flying toward the water tank. One impactful explosion blasted apart the tank, and water erupted out from it. Lincoln quickly went and picked up the little girl as the water flew over the edges of the roof, splashing all over them as well. The fire was majorly weakened by this action, though while he was holding her, he realized what she had been painting now.

"What the…?" Lincoln saw a painting of a tall building on fire. It seemed that the painting had now dissipated away before his very eyes, due to the water splashing all over them. He caught his red curve-tipped star as he morphed back to normal.

"Whew… are you okay? Where are your parents?" he tried to brush past the oddity. This orange haired girl was acting very depressed, and not in the way that Lucy would be.

"I don't know," she responded as Lincoln put her down. He guessed that her folks had already evacuated, or they had gotten separated.

"Well… come on. I'll take you down so the paramedics can check up on you," he insisted, but then saw her lie on her art book again. She acted like it was a perfect pillow, not caring if it was wet.

"I don't wanna…" she flatly replied. Lincoln was unsure how to respond to that. He never really had any troubles like this with his younger family members. None of them had acted this way. It was like a depressed temper tantrum, without the grating loudness.

"You can trust me. My name's Lincoln Loud. My job is to make sure the world is safe and to help out everyone in it," Lincoln introduced himself, trying to act like a reassuring hero despite his scary wounds. The little girl looked up to him, allowing him to help her up. She felt calmness from his words and honesty radiating around him. The teenager began to make for the roof access stairs. Now that the fire was gone, it should be safe for them both to get back out.

"I'll make sure it's all okay. Don't worry about a thing."


	95. Talk

**Authors Note: I wanted to thank you all, for the 50k views that just has been hit most likely by the time this is up. We are nearing the end, so I hope you do not mind my next story idea. Take care and enjoy all!**

"Wow… How long has she been like this?" Leni was in the living room with most of the Guardian Project members, sans Luna. The little orange-haired girl lay on the couch, asleep with a pillow rested beneath her head. Whether or not she was faking the slumber was up to any of their guesses. The guardians were just glad most of the Loud family was out due to Luna gaining an invite to a dinner. The invitation was extended to as much family as she wanted to bring, yet in reality it was just another one of the music labels trying to butter her up to sign a contract.

"Since I met her," Lincoln was seated on the floor with Charles resting beside him. He petted the dog whilst lost in his own confused thoughts. He had told them everything he had witnessed, but he was unsure about telling them of his theory that was bothering him the most. It was already dark outside since he had spent a lot of time at the police station with the child in an expectedly failed attempt to find her parents. The officers promised to be in contact while they searched.

"I kind of wish Lucy was here right now. She'd probably have a way to get her to open up," Lynn spoke while bringing a spare blanket from upstairs. She draped it over the sleeping child. Until now the sporty Loud never really understood the difference between the depressed and the gothic, despite Lucy herself explaining it to her dozens of times. Seeing an actual very depressed young girl opened her eyes to those differences very well.

"But why did you bring her here of all places, Lincoln? You could have left her with the police, you know," Lori worded what she and the rest of the sisters thought. The middle Loud child sighed, guessing he had forgotten to mention a few things on accident when trying to hide what he didn't wish to divulge yet on purpose, not until Lisa made sure he was not insane.

"She wouldn't talk to the cops. All she did was keep saying 'I don't wanna' and lying there. She actually responded to me a little, so they requested I take care of her for today," Lincoln answered. He found it strange that any police force would trust him, considering how he appeared physically. One phone call to General Eugene helped give assurance that the young guardian could be trusted. The fact of the matter was, most of the authorities were presuming she might be more so special needs than anything.

"She really spoke to you? What did she say?" Lynn was curious, mainly because the orange haired girl never made a squeak since she stepped in the Loud house.

"She said she was hungry, so we stopped for something to eat on the way here... I'm going to go talk to Lisa," Lincoln stood up and stretched. The answer was not as dramatic as they half expected, but they let their brother go to talk to the child prodigy.

* * *

"Exceptional timing, dad. I was just about to come retrieve you," Lisa greeted Lincoln as he entered the garage. He could see each individual paintbrush and the art book on small metal pedestals, under glass containers for safety precautions.

"Does that mean you've got good news for me?" Lincoln brightly smiled. Lisa went to retrieve the art book and one of the paintbrushes. He watched her put one of the many energy soda cans on the workbench, just one of the many empty ones she had consumed.

"As you can witness for yourself, I've drawn a crude image of the soda can. Now watch what occurs if I… say, draw an object penetrating it, like that screwdriver on the wall to the left," Lisa began after pointing to the left. The screwdriver was nowhere near the workbench since many other objects took up the cluttered space. After the picture was drawn, Guardian Red watched the screwdriver suddenly go flying off the wall and impale the side of the soda can, making it spin around and stop facing the opposite direction, just as it was shown in the picture.

"That explains the building on fire…" Lincoln exhaled. It was exactly like he had feared. That little girl he saved had caused the entire building fire, and she was clearly aware of it. He recognized the difference in what was being used to paint with. Lisa had used regular paint borrowed from Leni. He knew what he saw the orange haired child use on that roof instead.

"Indeed. It appears that as long as you can draw a good replicate of the object, whatever you draw happening to it will indeed happen near instantaneously. However, it appears to not work when drawing people," Lisa elaborated on these weird art tools' near magical abilities. To test out if the art book would actively harm drawn individuals, she drew herself, and she remained fit as a fiddle. The book appeared unable to tell humans apart, no matter the size or amount of detail put into their drawing. So therefore it would not make any attempts to make the image a reality.

"Why would she use essence for paint then?" Lincoln requested, still completely confused why the child was using her own life force to paint with. There were a lot of possibilities, but one answer came off more obvious than the most.

"My guess is that it is just the preference of an artist. Perhaps she likes to paint life into her drawings, by using her own life force," Lisa declared. Guardian Red rubbed his neck, feeling torn on this. It was upsetting to know that the little girl was most likely a part of the Xeran if she was trying to harm people, but he figured maybe this could be a good thing since she was nice to them, or at least not aggressive. He hoped that maybe all she needed was a normal art book instead.

"She doesn't know where her parents are. Whatever she has to do with the Xeran can't be that bad. She might even be the key we need to getting to their dimension," Lincoln explained his idea. They were not up for many options, and not all Xeran could be completely evil. He and the rest of the guardians did not want to imagine what the majesty was like to his subjects.

"If she had any crossings with the Xeran as you suggest… then her parents are most likely far beyond saving," Lisa said. She saw no point with having optimism in this situation. The teenager hated to look at this pessimistically, but even if her parents were alive, they were going to be in for a long search for two most likely unrecognizable figures.

"Lincoln! Lisa! Something is going on!" Lori called out from the living room. The two quickly made their way out of the garage to see what was happening. When they got to the living room, the four guardians could see a live broadcast on the television. The cameraman seemed to be yards away from the scene, and the reporter on microphone commentating.

"It is quite the odd phenomenon. Everyone who enters this strange perimeter between Highwind Road and Best Line Boulevard suddenly begins to slow down. The same happens for vehicles. Electronics and even animals, yet everyone inside acts as if nothing is happening, almost like they've been cut off from this world's time and put into another," the news anchor claimed as the camera zoomed in on the people. A few were inside the slow zone, yet they did not have a hint of worry about them. They were doing their normal activities, all oblivious to everything going on around them. The late night darkness though made things hard to see on the television.

"You're kidding me? The Xeran have Elites that can control time now?!" Lynn could not fathom this, yet for some reason it infuriated her, mainly because they had no clue how to deal with this. Every new Xeran monster that appeared was another nightmare for them. They almost had to learn the monster's tricks down to the complete detail before they could improvise.

"This goes against the very foundation that is the law of time… completely," Lisa held her head, feeling a migraine coming on just from trying to wrap her head around it.

"Wha-what are they trying to do?" Leni was scared that they had to go help people, but she was terrified of what would happen to them if they were caught in that slowdown bubble, too. She wished Luna was here right now, but they knew they could make a phone call to her and get her to join up with them on location.

"Same thing as always. Stealing essence to try and bring that majesty guy back…" Lincoln answered. He could even see a small convoy of military vehicles trapped in the time-stalling bubble. He wondered if this had something to do with whatever the army was transporting. Lincoln grew concerned for the soldiers since that was a lot of their backup in danger.

"But I don't see any monsters. Wouldn't they be rampaging by now? There's no textoth, no Xeran Elites, not even one of the generals," Lori pointed out the lack of chaos going on in the slowed down area. It was just an abnormality. Everyone knew what this meant.

"They're either preparing for the attack, or just trapping people for a bigger plan that we cannot grasp quite yet," Lisa exhaled in frustration. It was a good thing because there was no need to go risking their own lives to get into that massive slowdown area, but it was bad because they hadn't an idea why it was happening. They were at least grateful the civilians were safe and sound. Lincoln looked over his shoulder. The orange haired girl had awoken when hearing the commotion. She just stared at the television screen. He approached her, his calm demeanor unchanging.

"You know something about this, don't you?"

All eyes of this half of the Loud family fell on her in confusion, wondering what the only brother of the family meant.

"I told you before. You can trust me. Our job is to protect the world and everyone in it. Nothing bad will happen to you. We promise," Lincoln repeated what he had told the child when they first met.

"...Xime did it. I'm supposed to be there right now," the little girl answered, not looking back to him.

"Hey! She actually talked!" Leni clapped, gleeful to be hearing more than three words from the child.

"What do you mean you're supposed to be there right now?" Lori stared. The raggedy dressed girl did not respond. Instead she hid under the blanket she had been given. The oldest Loud stared in surprise.

"What was that about?"

"You are pretty scary, Lori… Even if you don't know it half the time," Lincoln chuckled while reaching up and pulling the blanket off of her, reassuring it was fine. Lori did not know whether to take the comment as an insult or not.

"What'd the Xeran want with you? I know about your special talent with art… You work hard to put life into each painting. Your life. So tell us what to do and you can start painting for fun instead of to hurt people," Lincoln explained. The little girl looked unsure despite his comforting words. She clearly had her bad share of trouble with the Xeran race.

"Xime prepared the bubbles. I was supposed to go draw a big, big, big skeleton thingy. I was trying to practice drawing first on that building you saved me from, but then… then it all washed away," she finally answered. That was the most anyone had heard her talk since they met. Lincoln did not realize how much trouble he had saved them all when putting that building fire out. He did feel bad for erasing nearly everything from her art book.

"Do you have any idea where Xime is? Please?" Lincoln pleaded. The orange haired girl shook her head. She had no idea where, but it was not like he was the most subtle of Xeran Elites either.

"Our theory that the Xeran go after the biggest of crowds has not failed us yet, I suggest investigating town square," Lisa recommended. The guardians nodded, ready to do this.

"Okay. Here's what we do. I'm going to take Leni and we'll try to call Luna to meet us at the town square. Lynn and Lori, you two are going to that slow part of town. Make sure no textoth armies are coming from anywhere and call if you need backup," Lincoln declared his immediate plan, having slipped into the role of leader quite well.

"Let's not waste time, then," Lynn and Lori headed off to get to the location immediately.

"Don't worry. Lisa will take care of you. Let's just hope we're right," Lincoln told the orange haired girl while rubbing her head. Lisa was not going to complain. This child may be only two years younger than her, but she was very calm for her age.

"Let's go, Lincy!" Leni gave a thumbs up, more than happy to go anywhere as long as it was away from that scary slowed area. Lincoln nodded, heading off with his second oldest sister while getting out his cellphone to call Luna, the little girl watching them as they left. With one thought in her head.

"…the shield man made me a promise though…"


	96. Fated Duel

Lincoln had hurried along with Leni to get to Royal Woods' town square. The place seemed a lot more repaired since the incident with the dragon assault, though the two could see nothing unusual going on around this area. Luna had already gotten here before them, since she was a lot closer. She escaped the dinner by lying about going to the bathroom and sneaking out the window.

"So nothing weird so far…" Lincoln sighed in irritation and tension. It had been a long time since he felt like he could completely relax his guard. This was certainly no exception.

"Not that I've seen, little bro. The weirdest thing I've seen since I got here is that guy over there," Luna pointed a thumb over her shoulder to a silver spray painted clown pretending to be a statue for cash from passersby.

"Great… guess this is as good a time to apologize to you as any other," their only brother scratched his head nervously.

"What do you mean, Lincy? We already told you the last twenty times that we don't mind being guardians!" Leni repeated. Their brother put his hands up defensively, insisting that it was what he had been more forced into doing when their guardian suits got rushed and tampered with when they had to save Lisa.

"No, it's not that. It's about your guardian modes… I didn't want to risk you guys blowing up, so I tried to put the combinations deal in your weapons instead of your suit," Lincoln claimed. He had been too terrified of failing at creating the guardian suits. They seemed sensitive internally. He did not know how to create the glitch that allowed them to combine stars and powers. He instead purged it entirely from their suits and put it into Leni and Luna's weapons.

"Eh? Well, that's fine. You already amazed us with what you could do, Linc," Luna reassured, rubbing his head and messing up his hair. She never really knew how smart he could be, even if he had Lisa's notes helping him in the suit's creations. The combination system glitch was too risky for him to try and implement, judging by the other day when Lincoln had done everything right, since his star had functioned with Leni's blaster with no trouble.

"We're just glad you told us everything. I wish you had sooner though," Leni looked sad from imagining how unaware the entire Loud family had been to their heroic siblings' efforts. Their only brother already verbally professed his despise against doing that, but in the end, it was just what a hero had to do to make sure the people he loved stayed safe.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Lincoln's eye was suddenly caught towards an approaching group of sudden construction workers from nowhere, with no tools, vehicles or reasons for coming here. They were all carrying the strange metallic hammer shaped like an hourglass, appearing to be struggling with the weight despite their combined efforts.

"I've got no clue," Luna shrugged. It was strange, but she guessed that maybe it was an important part for a building under repairs, but it was being carried like it was a king's scepter.

The three guardians saw a small portal open up in the air. Two hands grabbed the sides and forced it apart from the inside. Out stepped the large white Xime himself. His feet dug hard into the ground, damaging the concrete slightly beneath them. He was old, but his height was intimidating alone. His white cloak blew in the wind.

"That must be him!" Lincoln watched as Xeran Elite grabbed the hourglass hammer from the construction workers. Xime heard people screaming in fear now that they were seeing him. Leni and Luna quickly got their stars out. The three were about to morph as they watched the time controlling monster raise his hammer high.

"Father time, pardon my intrusion!" Xime shouted as the hourglass was flipped upside down. He slammed the hammer full force onto the road, breaking it into a thousand pieces and knocking everyone around up. The guardians had no chance to react as everything suddenly froze.

"Wha-?! I can't move!" Luna could only think. She was not even able to speak. Her entire body, including her mouth refused to move. Lincoln only was made furious by this.

"I thought he only slowed things down!" Leni murmured. She did not like this one bit. Lisa was right again. The Xeran were after very populated areas of Royal Woods. None of them expected complete freezing. They had just believed that the monster could slow down time. It was a big mistake to underestimate their enemy.

"That's two time bubbles… Please remain patiently, dear people. The Xeran will come and harvest from you soon, once the third location is found and created," Xime spoke, as the workers once carrying the hourglass hammer for him were now dropping their disguises completely and unveiling their textoth forms. The guardians could only watch as the old Xeran Elite began ordering the textoth on where to stand guard. The monsters were able to move normally without any issues in the time freezing area.

"Oh no… Lynn, Lori, Lisa, it's up to you now…" Lincoln felt horrible for leaving it to them to handle saving the day again. He knew he was supposed to be taking things easy, but he never expected time itself to be against him working.

* * *

"I feel horrible that I think this is so funny…" Lynn and Lori stood outside of the slowdown zone, watching two people that were walking together, nearly out of the slowed area. The siblings had been watching these civilians while on guard duty. They were very curious if anyone who went into the slowdown bubble could get out.

"Xeran-kedabra!"

The two Loud girls turned around, noticing an army of textoth down the road approaching. They had come from seemingly nowhere.

"Where did they even come from?!" the awestruck Lori drew her sword out, watching it open as the blade extended out. Lynn cracked her knuckles readily. At the front of the group, the two found Xeradabra and Teronzata leading them. Lori though was only focused on Teronzata, just who she wanted to see.

"Greetings, my former apprentice! I'm here for the fated rematch that I have long since anticipated!" Teronzata pulled his sword from his sheath, his black cloak following his movements. The oldest Loud pulled the general of defense's book out from her small side bag, she gave it one quick gloss over to refresh her memory before putting it away again.

"Yeah… I've been waiting for this too. Lynn, I hate to leave you to all those skeletons and the other Xeran Elite, but can you handle them for a while? Distract, kill, annoy, anything," Lori almost looked ready to beg, worried that their horrible relationship before the guardian deal would affect her decision to agree.

"I'll handle them, Lori, don't worry. I'm only getting stronger by the day," Lynn flexed, ready to go. The two rushed straight in, not yet ready to morph. Lori believed that it would give that appearance of a fair one on one duel against Teronzata, while the sporty Loud wanted to try and use her guardian mode as an ace up her sleeve for when she needed an amp up in battle.

"Leave the blonde one in my care! This is a duel for life and death to settle the betrayal of her loyalty from the greatest swordsman in the world!" Teronzata declared, his blade clashing against Lori's. She was caught off guard by the pure impact of it. He really was serious about this battle. The textoth respected the general of defense's wishes, more than glad to focus on the other guardian.

"Normally I'm the one to put on a show… But I'll enjoy this show for myself," Xeradabra giggled, watching the scene. Like an army of ants the textoth began to swarm and surround Lynn. She ducked under one sword and had to jump over another two. She stomped on the blades, pinning them to the ground before she punched both of the skeletal beasts in the face.

"I'll give you a show alright! It's called the Broken Bones Orchestra!" Lynn mocked while she continued battling, hoping that Guardian Blue could get what she needed to accomplish done.

"Teronzata! Let me say thanks for at least teaching me how to fight. It's been helpful. I never wanted to know how to use a sword, but I'd probably be worthless without it too!" Lori knocked the swordsplant's weapon up, breaking his guard, and she lunged forward, stabbing him in the chest right through the many vines that made up his body.

"I don't accept the gratitude of those who betray my trust!" the general of defense slashed Lori's arm, making her stumble back and withdraw her blade from his torso. The general regenerated quickly with new vines filling in for the deceased. "I'm the greatest swordsman in the world! My first apprentice was believed to be a traitor, but he still upheld the shield instead of the sword! You took what I taught you to use it against us! You also taint that blade with only one technique!"

Teronzata swung overhead. Lori jumped aside, kicking him away and making him tumble a small distance, but he quickly stood up, watching the words engraved onto his sword glow orange.

"Ah jeez… I forgot Lincoln told us about his blade's tricks…" she panted, before she twirled her sword, watching Teronzata swing downward. She smashed her sword against his, and her blade began cracking instantly.

"What the!?" she gasped, trying to keep her guard up as her sword grew more and more brittle. His sword's ability was forcing her sword to age and weaken at a rapid rate.

"I told you once. I told you twice! I'll repeat it another thousand times! I'm the greatest swordsman in the world! And I won't allow you to besmirch my name!" Teronzata's sword began to glow bright blue, as quick as a flash of lightning Lori saw his blade vanish from above as he slashed her across her chest. Lori was disallowed any reply to such a move, as he slashed her face, cutting part of her blonde hair and nicking her cheek. The oldest Loud put up her arms and sword in defense, as she had her body torn and her legs arms and chest cut and slit relentlessly.

"I… I can't move…" Lori coughed, her legs weakened. She had never seen Teronzata resort to such brute force. He did not care for a chivalry code right now. It was a duel for the end. The general of defense scraped his sword on the ground. The blade glowed bright red, and it began to catch ablaze in a large eruption of fire.

"Magma Crash!" Teronzata swung downwards. Lori gave her sword its last desperate swing, but it stood no chance. His mighty sword broke hers in two. The flaming blade crashed down upon Lori herself, engulfing her in a large explosion. Her cries of pain pierced the wind.

"Lori!" Lynn shouted while being held back by three textoth attempting to restrain her so the others could finish her off. She smashed her head against one of the skeletal warriors' jaws, forcing it off of her. She then quickly kicked the other two away.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lynn quickly morphed into Guardian Black and went straight toward the duel itself, but there were just so many textoth. No matter how many she slaughtered or beat aside. They kept shoving her away like an ocean of black tar.

"Hah! I can't let you interrupt this! I've never seen Teronzata put this much seriousness into a battle before! Xeran-kedabra!" Xeradabra waved her magic wand and tapped it on the ground. Guardian Black was suddenly surrounded by a circle of large mirrors. It was like a giant maze from a carnival house. Even the textoth were trapped inside it with her.

"No! I'm not letting any of you freak shows stop me from helping Lori!" Lynn bashed one of the mirrors and shattered the glass. However, the textoth's reflections in the broken glass caused a dozen more to appear. Guardian Black cried in pain as her chest and back erupted sparks and smoke from her, when dozens of blades collided from all sides.

"Ohh ho ho ho ho ho! Just give in! You'll never find your way out of this maze," Xeradabra cackled while appearing in the mirrors as if to mock Guardian Black. Lynn smashed four more textoth away with her guardian knuckles. She refused to give up, her mind only focused on getting to Lori.

* * *

"Haah… oough…" Lori lay there on her back, wheezing. Her broken sword was still firmly in her hand. Her hair was singed and her entire body had small burn marks across random parts of it.

"You're still alive?" Teronzata approached, his top hat lying nearby after having been blown away from the explosion, "My… you guardians are resilient, yet you were brave enough to not hide behind the veil of that suit and helmet."

"I wanted to fight you fairly after all, but…" Lori paused, "You aren't the greatest swordsman in the world. You're just the most determined. Always trying your best to redeem yourself even after king Janquil banished you."

Hearing the name Janquil alone sent a sharp, stabbing pain through the general of defense's head. He held it in agony, dropping his sword to the ground.

"What… why does that name make me feel so… angry and sad?" Teronzata groaned. Lori tried to stand back up. It took everything she had to get back on her feet.

"You survived in those endless woods for so long. You were offered nature's strength if you could defeat the demon of the forest Melikami. It took you months, yet you still won, Teronzata Wilds the eighth, and you were proud," Lori was speaking what she could deduce from the book. She had read that story several times over. Her words alone were seemingly hacking away at his minds mental locks. She heard him begin to scream as dark purple essence belonging to the majesty began to expel from his back. But she was not yet finished.

"You fought to the end until King Janquil died before your eyes. Even after everything that had happened to you, after all they had done against you for just being weak, you stayed loyal until the end. I know why betrayal upsets you a lot. It does suck big time to think that people who are greatly close to you can turn against you on a dime. And I know that it's why you lost your life and clung to the essence sphere you stole from Melikami... in order to gain nature's strength."

Before Lori knew it, a loud howl sounded as Teronzata's back arched. The two were engulfed in a shroud of the majesty's essence that had escaped the general of defense's body. Things were beginning to become dark and grey. Lori could see nothing, and that was what scared her.

"Is this… is this where I die?"


	97. The General Of Defenses Farewell

Lori was lost in the darkness. Her vision was fuzzy, yet everything around her was black. She walked with her broken sword tight in her grip, yet she was not sure why she was wondering in the darkness. It seemed endless, and she felt like lying down and just accepting death's embrace, yet her body felt the constant desire to move, despite the many injuries.

"Teronzata let out all of this dark stuff… It's like another world nearly, it's just like the stuff that the majesty gave me…" she looked around. Nothing changed. No light was illuminating the darkness. It felt like a prank her siblings had done before, when she was forced to walk along on a treadmill with the lights off. But she could tell this was not a joke. Guardian Blue swore her heart had a dozen threads ensnaring it.

"His memories have to be in here under the darkness of the essence," Lori held her arm as she stopped her movement. Her worst memories were beginning to be forced to the front of her mind. The most prominent and saddening memories were from the past, when she bullied Lincoln and her other siblings so much. It felt like the darkness was beginning to encase her during her depression.

"Is this my punishment or something? I wanted to get to the bottom of the Xeran… Maybe I really am no better than those monsters," Guardian Blue looked at the broken sword in her hand, her grip so strong around the handle that it practically had an imprint. She soon noticed a light blue glowing light coming from her pocket.

"Huh…? My star?" she pulled out her three-tipped baby blue star. She was feeling an odd sensation, as she began to have thoughts of her family and loved ones starting to take over the depressing thoughts at the forefront of her mind.

"That's right… I've got people to go home to. I've got the best boyfriend anyone in the world could ever have. Every last one of them cares and loves me, and I love them just as much. I've grown up from that selfish brat I was a month ago. I'm a lot stronger than I ever could be," Lori put the star onto the remnants of her destroyed blade's hilt, placing her thumb against one of the points, and watching light blue essence begin to absorb from her arms at a high pace.

"Let me help bring that tranquility to you too, Teronzata," Guardian Blue spoke to the empty darkness. Once the last of her own calming essence was put into the star, she gave it a hard spin, watching it begin to form into her guardian finisher. In place of the broken blade, a light blue energy appeared.

"Guardian finisher! Blitz Blade! Engage! Pierce the Majesty's shadows!" Lori swung wide, watching a large blue slash cut the darkness. The majesty's essence bled slightly from the large slash to try and seal the wounds made to the darkness.

"You've tortured more than just each dimension! Even the very people that loyally followed you were tormented! You erased their memories, their personality, and all that made them be!" Lori called out as she hacked and slashed away at the surrounding shadows. Each large blue slash seemed to tear the area around apart even more, but as she attacked, more of the majesty's essence poured into the darkness

"You are correct, my dear apprentice…" an oddly familiar voice spoke. The oldest Loud was panting tiredly with sweat running down her forehead. She noticed vines emerge from each of the slashes she made, beginning to force them apart. The darkness was cracking like fragile glass.

"Is that…?" Lori shook it off. This was her chance. She turned her back to the large set of gashes that were being kept from healing the darkness. She jumped up and spun around, swinging her sword as hard as she could.

"Turning scatter slash!" the large gash was made in the darkness. The shadows began to crumble away like a pile of rocks falling from an ancient tomb. Lori stood there in the remnants of what was left as the shadows completely cleared. In the darkness's wake revealed an elegant forest surrounding Lori. The trees stretched long and large, the sunlight piercing between the leaves like a spotty illumination.

"You really were determined to help me…" she heard, behind her stood a very lanky skinny man in familiar clothes, his black hair quite messy.

"Teronzata? That's the real you?" Lori put her star away, leaving her with nothing more than her broken blade. The feeling of a gentle wind against her skin was comforting. Things were so far nice about this area. No longer were they in a world of vast nothingness.

"Yes, my dear apprentice… allow me to say thank you for granting me back my old self, even if it is just for this short time," Teronzata bowed to the oldest Loud, no longer ashamed to refer to her as apprentice. He seemed glad to be freed of the dark essence of the majesty's heart.

"I just can't believe I get to meet the real you… I have so much I want to ask you now that you've gotten your memories back," Guardian Blue claimed. The former Xeran Elite exhaled.

"My condolences, Larissa, but my life is what you freed… We're in a world from my memories that was forged when our essences combined. Once this vanishes, I shall no longer exist," Teronzata explained to the best of his ability. He looked quite accepting of his fate. He considered it atonement for his monstrous acts in each dimension.

"Please, at least tell me this… who is Larissa? Why do you guys keep calling me that? You know my name," Lori pleaded. It always was confusing her whenever BelGaner or Teronzata crossed paths with her and called her that. Even the other generals sometimes called her that. Now it was her only chance to know why.

"Larissa… I'm sorry. I do not know much about her, for we only met for a short time. But you see… she was BelGaner's significant other for a while. The two of them were pirates from dimension one," the general of defense coughed, trying to gather his thoughts, "it was during the start of the Xeran's assault on that dimension. The pirate age was fascinating. Conquering a mostly water filled world would prove a hard task, but before we could really begin the two tried to rob from the Xeran. The plan they made actually killed three Elites. BelGaner and Larissa were able to kill hundreds of textoth on their own. Looking back on it, it seemed silly that two regular humans were about to take out so many of our warriors on their own. …but then, upon witnessing their intelligence, the majesty was impressed, but when he ordered us to capture them, they decided to come straight to us. BelGaner made a deal with the Majesty for leaving half of their home world alive, In trade he would join the Xeran as their strategic general. But Larissa refused and stayed behind."

Lori listened to it all with intent. It sounded like a depressing time for BelGaner. "So you kept calling me Larissa, because I look like her or something?"

"No…" the raven haired man shook his head, "But I dare say she might be an ancestor of yours, because you look almost exactly like her, which might explain quite a lot… You see, Larissa and BelGaner found a way to make the Xeran unable to steal essence with a certain ritual. I suppose they accidentally stumbled upon this ritual, and it protected her entire bloodline."

Lori was quite surprised. Not many knew about the full extent of their family tree. Larissa Loud had quite a ring to it, though she was unsure if it was fate or a coincidence that the guardian's ancestor accidentally found a ritual that stopped the Xeran from being able to steal essence from their family.

"Guess I need to pay my respects next time I go to the beach," Lori made a mental note. She watched as Teronzata drew his sword from his side and impaled it into the ground between them. He let go, as the forest slowly began to fade away into a rainbow of colored essences surrounding them.

"Before I leave this plane of existence, allow me to leave you this as a gift. This blade will do you favors far more than any modern forge will. You are able to turn one technique into a thousand. This was King Janquil's favorite move… if only I had remembered it sooner," Teronzata gifted his blade to Lori. He looked quite sad from remembering the events so clearly now, the lives he took with the use of his blade and orders. "You would have made quite the knight if you were born in my age. I'm quite proud to say you are a worthy successor to take up my blade."

"Teronzata… Thank you for helping us. If it weren't for you, I'd still be an immature stuck up brat," Lori bowed in response. His teachings were going to play a helpful part with defying the Xeran race. Teronzata's actions, while not pleasant, did force her to grow up.

"I deserve no thanks. It was a pleasure crossing blades with you. You are a very fast learner," he stated as the world was nearly dissipated, only leaving them standing there. Lori grabbed his sword, leaving her broken one hanging by her side. She watched the general of defense begin to fade away from his legs up, as the rainbow of essence blew away like leaves in the wind.

"Teronzata…" Guardian Blue grinned, "This is the first time you haven't screamed about how you were the 'best swordsman in the world'."

"Heheh…" he laughed lightly, with some tears welling on his bright, smiling face, which soon faded after his whole body, his last words rung out.

"Well… I believe that title rightfully goes to you now, Mistress Lori Loud…"

He was gone, erased from existence, and in turn, everything around Lori turned white for a split second. She gasped, her eyes opening while looking around. She was just lying on the ground, her injuries healed like her duel with Teronzata never happened.

"Wha…?" Lori looked to the new blade in her grip and the top hat lying turned over nearby. She suddenly heard a loud, agonized scream. She looked over at the mirror maze.

"Ahahahahah! Oh my! This is fun!" Xeradabra began to giggle while watching Lynn be viciously slaughtered by the unending wave of textoth, while she was trying to escape the mirror maze.

"Hey! You stage show freak!" Lori shouted, gaining her attention. The Xeran Elite gasped in surprise.

"What?! Bu-but I thought you were as good as dead! Where's Teronzata?!" the magician Xeran was unnerved. Lori pulled out her three-tipped star and her guardian cellphone.

"He's gone, but he left his legacy to me! Guardian mode! Engage!" Lori morphed into her guardian mode.

"Lock in!" she secured her helmet into place and closed the visor. She picked up her new sword, giving a quick slash as she raised it overhead.

"Guardian Blue! Guardian of the essence that grants tranquility to the world!"

Lori then watched as Xeradabra summoned more textoth, though she held no care about the skeleton warriors. She only wanted to help save Lynn right now.

"You think you can defeat a magician?! I'll make sure you vanish!" Xeradabra pointed her magic wand at her, a thunderbolt fired from the tip of it. Guardian Blue bounced it away with one swing of her sword, watching it explode on the side of a nearby wall. She began charging at the Xeran and textoth before her.

"Let me show you what the best swordswoman in the world can do!"


	98. Magic Tricks

**Authors Note: I just wanted to say, thank you all again for the support. I wanted to let everyone know that my first fanfiction, a brothers debt now has a dedicated TvTropes page. Even if it is short I am happy, my birthday is on the 2nd so I consider it practically an early present. I just wanted to let you all know, have a great day and take care!**

"Lynn, you're far beyond your limitations…" Lisa watched the battle from her laptop. Guardian Black was lost in this mirror maze, where whenever she killed one horde of textoth, it's remnants would run around breaking as many reflective surfaces as they could to summon their backup. This magic act was getting on Lynn's nerves, and the child prodigy was not able to get into contact with Lincoln, Luna or Leni, neither could she get any feedback from Lori's communicator, yet she could at least tell that she was morphed.

"Trust me, Lisa, I know! I feel every hit that's being thrown at me now!" Lynn rarely believed she had a limit. She preferred to believe in constantly working hard to break any imaginary boundaries her body had, but now her guardian suit was being stressed too much, so much so that it was going to force her to morph back to normal soon, but it was the only reason she had survived this long.

"But I need to get to Lori! I can't give up!" Guardian Black gritted her teeth when she caught two blades to the shoulders that sent out a burst of sparks. She charged forward with her arms spread out and began to shove the large group of textoth back down the maze hallway. She then pulled back her arms and punched, watching them go flying back before beginning to crash into each other.

"Haah… Ohhh, jeez," Lynn coughed. All that had done was bought her a few minutes of time. As she viewed the skeletal warriors trying to desperately get up, she noticed a few get stuck between the mirror walls. Their corridors were quite small. It gave her an idea.

"That's it! I shouldn't be careful just because there are some mirrors around! No need to worry about seven thousands years of bad luck!" she grinned brightly. There were thankfully no textoth behind her. She only now had to hope her arms did not give out on her.

"I believe that would only create more textoth for you to fight, mom…" Lisa insisted, "But if you have a plan, I recommend executing it immediately."

"Of course! I know what I'm doing," Guardian Black began punching every mirror around her, breaking each one to pieces. The textoth stopped their approach looking confused they were more than content to watch the guardian go berserk and take their anger out on the mirrors, it would just create more skeletal creatures after all.

"Skree-he-he-he," the textoth cackled, Lynn beginning to step back as more of the skeletal warriors emerged, taking their weapons from their bodies. Lynn ignored them and kept breaking more mirrors with her punches, while backing away.

"They're about to attack!" Lisa alerted her older sister.

"I know! It's about done! I need to break a few more!" Lynn continued smashing the mirrors. It felt like an hour of mirror destruction, but there were now hundreds of textoth in the tiny mirror maze. The skeleton warriors tried to all attack at once, but what stopped them all was humorous to Guardian Black.

"Skree? Skree?!" they began to jabber in their confusing language. Guardian Black could only begin laughing lightly, relieved to see her plan working. The textoth were stuck. There were so many that they had begun pressing each other against the tiny walls, even when there were more being generated. The black mass of skeletons continued growing, impeding their ability to escape.

"Well I'll be… you turned their overwhelming odds against them. I'm impressed, mom," Lisa complimented her mother figure. Every time Lynn was called mother, for some reason it made her feel warmth in her heart that kept her motivated to fight harder.

"Thanks, Lisa! Now I just have to find my way out to help Lori," Lynn jogged off in the opposite direction, hoping the mirror maze's exit was this way. It would be a major downside to her plan if the exit was beyond the ocean of textoth. She was more terrified though for her oldest sister's wellbeing.

* * *

"I'm sick of wizards! The only magician I like is Luan," Lori dodged a dozen cards shot at her from Xeradabra's sleeves. For her to say Luan was a magician prankster was an understatement. Those water buckets seemed to be set up in perfect places in seconds before the person got to their location.

"There's a big difference between magicians and wizards! But I guess you could say I'm special," the magician Xeran Elite giggled. How Lori bested the general of defense had her terrified to her core. Lori was hacking away at the textoth coming at her. She felt like she had been reborn with this much strength and energy inside her, and behind each swing of the blade, the battlefield was covered with more and more smoke.

"Ohhh… this isn't going to do… Let's try this! Xeran-kedabra!" Xeradabra flipped her wand in the air and caught it, before she then waved it lightly. Guardian Blue was not sure what the monster was doing until she noticed a large box coming from the sky.

"What?!" Lori had no time to react as the box slammed on top of her, trapping her inside, and killing several misplaced textoth simultaneously that had only been doing their job of fighting the guardians. The Xeran Elites really could care less about their survival.

"Will my lovely assistant survive our little act? Don't worry folks! I'm only just going to give this barbarian a proper death by a dozen blades!" Xeradabra laughed. Guardian Blue had no clue what that meant until a long sword pierced the box at a tilted angle, going right by her head, more and more swords began to stab the box. Lori had to keep moving in awkward styles while placing herself into even stranger positions to dodge the next blades that tried to impale her.

"I hope you can still do your tricks," Guardian Blue mentally hoped while looking to Teronzata's sword. All she could do was think hard about it while tightening her grip, watching as the blade glowed orange, her concentration was almost broken when another sword sliced her shoulder, making her wince in pain. All she could hear was that Xeran Elite's laughter.

"Did the rabbit finally stop squirming?" Xeradabra looked the box over until she saw that all too familiar sword stab through one part of the box instantly. The material the box was made from began to crack and begin to gradually weaken. After a short second, Lori kicked out the box. She was free thanks to the blade fast aging technique.

"He-hey! That's not part of the performance!" the Xeran magician was upset, but she just began to wave her magic wand. "Fine! I'll just have to keep doing it until you're dead!"

Suddenly, Xeradabra's wand got snatched from her by a passing blur. Guardian Blue was relieved at the familiar face.

"Lynn! I'm glad you're safe!" Lori stated. Guardian Black stood there after having surprised the Xeran Elite by stealing its magical tool.

"I should be the one saying that!" Lynn raised her leg up, breaking the magic wand over her knee and snapping it into two, before tossing it aside. Guardian Blue's communicator was still busted from being in that abnormal pocket dimension that the majesty's essence made.

"How did you escape my maze?!" Xeradabra demanded, horrified, "Those mirrors and textoth should have kept you trapped there for an eternity!"

"Those idiots are stuck. Sooo all you have left are some dead skeletons out here," Lynn retorted. The magician Xeran Elite looked terrified, wondering right now where her help was. It was scary for her to realize that she was left on her own.

"Finish her, immediately! I believe we have another issue to prioritize," Lisa spoke over Guardian Black's communicator. Her older sibling agreed and got out her rough-tipped star.

"Time to finish this!" the two guardians readily drained their essence into their weapons. Lynn threw her star into the air, watching it break into four pieces.

"Guardian Finisher! Star Striker! Engage!" Lynn punched the four star shards, sending them all flying right for the magician Xeran Elite. Lori made her new sword glow bright red, ready to try another variation of her technique.

"Guardian Finisher! Magma Scatter Crash!" Lori slashed the sword against the ground, watching it catch ablaze. She swung forward, sending out a blazing red aura, the flames burning a trail behind the scatter attack that engulfed Lynn's star pieces, before they collided against Xeradabra. An electrical burst of smoke burst off of the Xeran Elite.

"Ahhh! I guess this vanishing act is permanent!" Xeradabra fell onto her back exploding into a bright burst of fire. Her essence sphere flew toward the two guardians who morphed back to normal. As Lori caught it, all that was left behind after the combined finishing blow, was the Xeran Elite's human form's corpse that was beginning to crumble to dust.

"That was amazing! I was so scared that I'd find nothing but your body chopped up when I escaped!" Lynn wrapped her arms around Lori. The oldest Loud patted her younger sibling's back, understanding why she would be worried, considering how violent that duel was. Lori slipped the essence sphere away into her pocket.

"Thanks for being worried about me. Where I was, I managed to meet the real Teronzata," Lori claimed, not sure how she was going to conceal this big sword. She would need Lisa to find a way to make it more portable.

"You did? So talking to him worked?! Where is he?" Lynn looked around excitedly, but one glance to her oldest sister gave her the saddening answer. She had been hopeful to meet the normal person underneath those vines, but it seemed impossible now.

"He gave me his sword before he vanished…" Lori claimed while looking down at the sword. She soon enough heard her guardian phone ringing. She pulled it out and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"I really wish you'd tell me when you're morphing back to normal. Cutting off communications so suddenly is startling every time to me," Lisa spoke over the phone. The two Loud siblings looked slightly embarrassed. They felt bad for not alerting the second youngest of the family like this.

"So what is it, Lisa?" Guardian Blue requested.

"Sorry, but it appears that there is now three time bubbles," Lisa sighed out the unfortunate, "I went to investigate one of the zones with my drone, and discovered Lincoln, Luna and Leni all have been captured inside one."

"What?! We need to go help them then!" Lynn wanted to just rush off right there, but her oldest sister stopped her, letting the child prodigy finish talking.

"If you try to enter the bubbles slowing the zone down, you will all be slowed down as well, leaving the city defenseless," Lisa warned her two siblings, "The Xeran Elite causing these slow bubbles to appear is in the western part of town. This is where the newest slow area appeared. I implore you to intercept him and destroy his means of creating these. Hopefully it will make the time bubbles all vanish."

"Alright we'll handle it," Lori closed her phone, putting it away. All of this information was worrisome to her and Lori.

"Well, come on! Let's go! A Xeran Elite screwing with time shouldn't be too hard to miss," Lynn claimed. The two guardians began to head off to get to the western part of Royal Woods.

"You don't have to worry about anything. As long as the greatest swordswoman in the world is by your side," Lori grinned. She swore that she could see a vein in Lynn's forehead burst from hearing that barely altered sentence.

"OH, DAMN IT, NOT YOU TOO!"


	99. The Sixth Guardian

**Authors Note: I apologize for this chapter being a day late, my birthday had my attention and kept me busy. My apologies, allow me to also thank you all for what will be 700 reviews by chapter 100. I hope you enjoy and take care!**

"Thank you, father time, for granting me your aid once again," Xime thought to himself. He was on his knees, keeping his eyes closed. He had finished creating the third slowdown bubble, and he had trapped quite a lot inside it after its completion. Textoth had begun running around and gathering up essence from every trapped person. Not one skeleton creature was slowed down by the bubbles' temporal powers. The time controlling Xeran Elite stayed idle, meditating to give his gratitude to father time.

"Hey! You!"

Xime was suddenly hit by a slash of blue energy that caused his shoulder to explode. He withstood the hit, beginning to get up while resting his hammer on his shoulder.

"What is this?" Xime spoke, barely bothered by this. He saw Guardian Blue and Guardian Black charging toward him, both morphed and determined to fight, believing it was their only chance to do so without being on unfair ground.

"Break the time bubbles or we'll kill you! That's what this is!" Lynn punched him in the head with her guardian knuckle while Lori slashed him in the chest. Xime kicked the oldest Loud away, he grabbed the other by the throat and tossed her back. Guardian Black was flung into the time slowing bubble.

"Lynn!" Lori called out. Now she was narrowly forced to face Xime alone. She was glad they had killed his partner before they could group up, and since the artsy Xeran child was in their safety, Xime was alone, too.

"Lisa, what should I do?!" the oldest Loud sibling requested advice from her. She was both alone and exhausted. All of the other guardians were trapped with no means of escape until, if they were lucky, the Xeran finished harvesting essence. "If I go all out, I'll wind up passing out!"

"I hate that I have to keep releasing prototypes of newly developed items. All the soldiers at Eugene's disposal have been captured in the first two time bubbles. As result of this feared outcome, in the event all guardians become unable to actively join the battle, I've given authorization for the gold project to be released early," Lisa explained. The gold project was one of the two inventions she had been spending all her time on. The second item, the one that Lincoln requested from her and the military to make, remained top secret from everyone.

"The gold project…? Oh, please tell me it's what I think it is," Lori felt relieved, but at the same time even more uncomfortable, because she knew exactly who this person wielding the gold project would be. There was going to be a lot of pent up energy about to enter the area.

"Whoa!" Guardian Blue barely avoided the over sized hammer that hit the ground beside her. She swung her sword, hitting the time controlling Xeran Elite in the chest and making a light scratch.

"I don't have the energy to actually make a dent!" the oldest Loud frustratingly growled. Xime reached out in an attempt to grab her and throw her into the time bubble with Lynn. Lori quickly slashed his arm, making him pull back.

"Turning Scatter Slash!" Guardian Blue jumped up in the air, and spun-slashed at Xime. This time she forced him to step back, causing an eruption of sparks to blast off of his chest. He groaned in pain, holding his torso.

"I felt that one… I imagine Xeradabra is deceased. If you're here, then the same can be assumed for Xerainter," Xime smacked her away with a thrust of his hammer. Lori landed on her side, rolling a short distance.

"Is…Is that what you call that child? What kind of sick being would use a child as a weapon?!" Guardian Blue tried to get up, but before she could Xime raised his hammer high over his head, before he slammed the mallet directly onto her back. The oldest Loud let out a howl of pain as her back was crushed and exploded with electrical smoke.

"Guhh…" Lori coughed, morphing out of guardian mode. Her three-tipped blue star and guardian gear lay nearby her, the cellphone left open. She could not get her body to move, despite how much force she put, and how much her mind was determined to help save her family. Just when she thought her duel with Teronzata was going to be her toughest challenge today.

"I'm not the one who condoned such action. I am just a monk who found father time's divine gift," Xime replied while looking her over. He began to walk away, preparing to leave. There were several textoth coming from the slowdown bubble after harvesting the essence that they could get. They had ignored Guardian Black, letting her stay in slow motion inside the bubble. Lynn could only watch in horror as they went straight for the downed Lori.

"I've already been nearly killed once today. Twice is going too far…" Lori exhaled in pain, irritated. She soon began to hear the sound of a skateboard rolling against the concrete. She saw someone ride between her and the textoth. The entire row of skeletal warriors burst into sparks and flew back in one quick fell swoop.

"Hm?" Xime's attention was drawn to this noise.

"Ronnie Anne…" the oldest Loud sibling felt relieved, "You really know timing… as in the most dramatic timing…"

Ronnie Anne stood kicked away her skateboard. She tossed away her helmet. She had an odd smooth gold colored device strapped onto her back that had odd attachments underneath her coat. Two were strapped onto her wrists and two were attached to her elbows on the back of her arms. Going up to her knuckles was a strange mechanical extension. It was almost like it was attached to her flesh with how fluent the movement was without restraint.

"Oh, shut it! Until you get some experimental junk screwed into your BONES and weirder crud put under your flesh, I don't want to hear it!" Ronnie Anne helped Lori stand up. When general Eugene came to get her and her guardian gear prepared, she had to get odd nerve enhancements underneath certain parts of her arms' flesh, and into the muscles specific areas. It barely left any marks, but it had made her feel a lot more internally scared. But she had to agree to it as they were required for the suit, and they were easily able to be removed whenever she wanted.

"I must confess… I did not anticipate this. Who are you?" Xime said. Lynn had only a few thoughts going through her head. She felt by no means reassured, and was more worried about all three of them being trapped.

"Ronnie Anne Santiago. And I'm going to make you suffer," Ronnie Anne stepped up once Lori was back on her feet and stable. Lori had to use her new sword like a crutch to stay standing. She watched as the young Santiago pulled out a weird, golden sphere.

"I certainly would be grateful for death. Unfortunately, I need to fight," the Xeran Elite stated. The claim of the desire for death made her feel awkward, as if she couldn't enjoy the dramatic entrance she had made.

"You Xeran have screwed with me and my family too much. I'll make sure to take it all out on you," Ronnie Anne gripped the sphere tightly, hearing it click as five bright shimmering tips appeared around it, turning it into a spherical-shaped star. The device on her back began to separate into fragments that all began to go down both of her arms, one part going onto her chest that opened up, unveiling a perfect slot for her star.

"Please try to focus on his weapon, Ronnie Anne. He took me out in two hits with it," Lori warned her.

"Fine, got it," Ronnie Anne nodded, understanding how dangerous a giant hammer could be. The oldest Loud was confused, though. The Santiagos were not able to have their essence stolen, or at least Ronnie Anne was immune to it. All Lori could assume was that more than just the Louds' ancestor stumbled upon the ritual that protected their bloodline from the Xeran.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Ronnie Anne called out, placing the round star into the opening and closed it tight. She was surrounded by a bright yellow essence that began to be absorbed by the star. A golden colored suit appeared on her with a short cape on her back, red gloves and red boots. Her helmet appeared on her head.

"Lock in!" the Santiago girl grabbed the front and back of her helmet and secured it into place. She tapped the side of her helmet, and her star shaped visor descended to cover her exposed face. Lori and Lynn were surprised at how flashy the guardian suit was. They would be correct in guessing that Ronnie Anne disliked how it appeared, but she liked the other aspects otherwise.

"So there are six guardians? I feel as if I was either lied to or missed important information…" Xime commented, looking over the bright gold guardian that shimmered in the moonlight. The two Louds wished they could help their newest fellow guardian, but Lynn was trapped and Lori was still drained and injured.

"No matter. I will deal with you, too, golden one. Seize them," Xime ordered, watching the remaining twenty textoth come running right for her with their various bone weapons drawn. Ronnie Anne grabbed the part of the device that her golden sphere star was contained in. The case looked like a dial. She turned it to the number 3 setting.

"Please be careful," Lisa requested over the communicator, "If you go overboard before your body has a chance to adjust to the changes, you will be risking a lot of your health."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. All three of those stupid doctors and the general told me about it already," Ronnie Anne groaned. She hated redundancy. Everybody did. When one of the first textoth jumped at her with its blade overhead, she pulled back her arm, which began to shake as she formed a fist sparks running down her arm. Ronnie Anne rammed her fist into the textoth's chest, sending it flying back and crashing into four of the other skeletal monsters, killing them instantly.

"What the…?" Lori was surprised at the power she had. Guardian Gold was determined not to let any of the creatures get near her older brother's girlfriend.

"That stings…!" Ronnie Anne grit her teeth. Her entire arm was in razor sharp pain. Like pins and needles, the gear was hurting her. She put up her guard, catching three jagged scimitars swung at her. She then swung low, kicking their feet out from under them. She slammed the three skeletal warriors on the ground hard and punched them all in the head to finish them off. The Santiago girl grabbed one of the jagged scimitars, before she spun around before throwing it, watching it fly and cut several more textoth to ribbons.

"Quite interesting," Xime coughed, watching as the last of his textoth stood no chance and were killed fast by guardian Gold. She had finished off the small group in such a quick minute.

"You ready to give up now?!" Ronnie Anne stomped forward. Lynn was impressed, even if this was the girl technically fighting against her to regain Lincoln's love, she hoped that would not get in the way of their heroic duties.

"I would surrender if I could, but I desire death. Not torture for failure," Xime spun his hourglass hammer upside down and rose it overhead.

"He's about to make another slow zone!" Lori cried out.

"You need to clear the area immediately!" Lisa ordered Ronnie Anne to flee, but the Santiago girl ignored the two. She doubted she could escape in time with how big these slow zones were made when they were created.

"Screw that noise. Let's see if I can take it then consider this the REAL test!" Guardian Gold grabbed the dial, turning it all the way to the red zone, level 10. The dial had green yellow and red colors on it, red was the most dangerous of all. Instantly, Ronnie Anne began to feel her arms thrive in pain, beginning to violently let out bursts of steam.

"Guardian Finisher! Overcharge! Engage!" Guardian Gold charged right up to where the hammer was being swung. She got right under it, putting her arms up and catching the hammer's head with her hands in a desperate attempt to stop it from hitting the ground. When Ronnie Anne caught it, her feet were pressed against the concrete hard enough to make a small impression. She grit her teeth, her entire body aching and wanting to give out on her at any minute from the pressure alone.

"You actually activated that! I literally told you just now NOT to do that!" Lisa scolded, very upset. It seemed like lately everyone was going out of their way to purposely go against requests or direct orders.

"My… that is some strength you have for a child," Xime commented

"Scatter!" Lori sent a slashing wave of sharp blue energy for him. He was not able to react as it hit him directly in the face, causing a small eruption of sparks and smoke and forcing the agonized Xeran to stumble backwards. He held his now scarred face.

"Thanks!" Ronnie Anne grinned at Lori, throwing the hammer into the air. With one, pounding slam that mustered every ounce of strength she had, her fist hit the hammer. She watched a static discharge shoot up her arm. The hourglass shattered, and the hammer exploded into nothing but shards with the sand as well.

"Whoa!" Lynn flopped face first onto the ground. The slowdown zone had vanished. Everyone trapped was now free. The textoth only had the chance to gather little amounts of essence before the fight erupted out.

"…Father Time appears to no longer want me to have his powers," Xime mused. Lynn rushed to Ronnie Anne's side, the two still in their guardian modes and more than ready to finish this.

"Good work… Why don't we try combining our finishers?" Lynn offered. The newest guardian saw no reason not to. She watched as Lynn pulled her black rough-edged star out from the chest opening that then closed. Her black essence was drained into the star, and she threw it in the air. Ronnie Anne got ready with her.

"Guardian Finishers! Overcharged Star Striker! Engage!" they both shouted before they hit two of the four star shards each, sending them flying right for Xime at mach speed and piercing right through him with large bursts of electricity following in their wake, creating four large holes inside the Xeran Elite's body.

"Well… it appears my time is up… Thank you, and goodnight," Xime collapsed onto his side and exploded into a large eruption of fire, leaving behind nothing but the elderly corpse beginning to turn into dust. Lynn caught her star as it came back while Ronnie Anne caught the essence sphere, the two morphing back to normal. The Santiago girl took her star out from the opening as the device returned to normal on her back.

"Sheesh… This is all so weird, but… feels good to finally get payback on those Xeran guys," Ronnie Anne claimed while watching her golden stars points retract as it returned to its ball shape. She pocketed it and the essence sphere.

"Thank you so much Ronnie Anne!" Lori approached her and Lynn, "You really helped us out when we needed it the most!"

"Just consider it me paying Lincoln and Lynn back for saving me from that fake you," Ronnie Anne shook her head. Now there were six guardians. With all their powers combined, they should be able to do a number on the Xeran.

"You were awesome out there! Everyone's going to be so happy to have you helping out now," Lynn claimed while storing her star away. Lori put Teronzata's sword on her back to be carried by her bag, the best place available to carry it.

"Yeah…" Ronnie Anne nodded in agreement, "I'm really glad to be able to finally do something."

"Well come on. We better go check up on the others," Lori insisted they go check on Luna, Leni and Lincoln. They began to head off to group up with the others. Ronnie Anne did not follow right away. She stood there looking at her arms. They were shaking uncontrollably, feeling a mentally sharp pain running against the flesh.

"Ronnie Anne? Is something wrong?" Lynn called out when the two Loud girls noticed her not following. The Santiago girl just closed her hands into fists before sliding them into her coat pockets, now beginning to walk.

"Nothing's wrong. Let's just go meet up with Lincoln."


	100. Betrayal

**Authors Note: Hello all, I want to apologize for taking a while to update the 100th chapter. I am so happy that we have reached this far in, even if we are nearing the end. I did however have to rewrite this chapter 12 times, and I had to have a surgery to remove a kidney stone, and am still recovering, please take care all and enjoy! And once again, thank you because now I am a recommended author on TvTropes, and Guardian Louds earned a tropes page for itself as well.**

"Come on… breathe… blink… anything," Lincoln mumbled. The slowdown zones had all vanished without much of a trace. Now he was on his knees, beside a young man's body. Before they were all freed from the time bubbles, the textoth had arrived and had made their attempts to pilfer everybody's essence. The skeleton monsters made off with a lot of it, and a lot more people were left close to death. Guardian Red tried to give his essence to everybody in peril. Luna and Leni tried their best to help by letting their only brother take small amounts of their essence to give to others in hopes of saving their lives.

"That little dude sure has a lot of weird powers," Luna commented. She was glad their brother had these abilities. It made the essence transfer device pointless to haul around, but it was a lot simpler to use. They could tell how taxing it was on him, though.

"I don't think any power is going to make Lincy feel better. That's the last person, too," Leni replied while watching from a short distance with her sister. Out of the forty or so individuals who had their essence stolen before their very eyes, all but four had been helped thus far. The man would become fifth victim to expire if his eyes did not open.

"Looks like we get to end on a happy note," the rocker sibling noticed the man begin to sit up. Lincoln looked relieved. Once he was checked over to be made sure he was alright, they let the man take leave, his memory foggy after these events.

"Are you okay, bro?" Luna asked.

"Not really…" Lincoln coughed tiredly, approaching them. The young guardian felt drained, with seldom any energy left inside of him, and was ready to take a week long sleep. He was fading in and out of consciousness. The three guardians could see few soldiers around, as coroners for the few who had died, unable to be revived.

"We should get home once the others meet up with us," Luna stated. Leni agreed, also concerned for the little girl with Xeran powers who was alone at their home with the rest of the Loud family, with Lisa as the only one able to help cover anything. Leni had one idea to try and make the strange orange haired girl more relaxed.

"Lincoln! Leni! Luna!"

The trio heard the familiar few voices, and they looked over to see Lori, Lynn and Ronnie Anne coming to them, the late of night having not impeached their movements. The two groups were so glad to reunite. Lincoln went up and wrapped his arms around Lynn, relieved.

"Whoa… Lori, you look like a mess," Leni claimed. Their oldest sister was injured and barely able to stand, mainly from the major back pain, but Lori would live from it. She had survived far worse by light years in comparison.

"I know… things were a bit insane and didn't go so smoothly," Lori replied, before patting the Santiago girl's head with a bright smile, "But the new guardian saved us when things got really bad."

Ronnie Anne had not a second to reply before she heard a light round of applause from the other guardians in congratulations for her getting her guardian suit.

"Thank you, Ronnie Anne…" Lincoln felt a lot happier again after the eventful past hour, "Welcome to the guardian project."

"Thanks for finally letting me join," Ronnie Anne smugly retorted with a grin. Her ex-boyfriend laughed in response. Not the reaction she expected, but he did look tired, cranky by the looks of it, so she decided to lighten up.

"The Xeran started stealing essence before the time bubbles vanished. So far, four have died because of it, but… they made off with so much essence. It isn't looking good," Luna explained. She was fearful about it, because the guardians had been only able to save the people trapped inside two of the time bubbles. The third one had been left as free game to be sucked dry before they had defeated Xime.

"Of course it's looking bad. Every drop of essence stolen is another step closer the Xeran are to reviving that majesty guy," Lynn spoke. They never knew what this majesty guy was like. But for some reason, they could not help but feel a sense of dread and light fear whenever they heard his name. At first they had no care for the word majesty, but the Xeran had been around for so long, that now the slightest mention of the majesty struck a hint of dread into their hearts.

"Well, the good news is that one of the majesty's generals is gone… Teronzata left me this before he died," Lori tried to brighten things up by presenting the former general of defense's blade, her new and powerful sword that she was happy with. With it, she felt like a mighty paladin.

"Really?! That's awesome! I'm sure they won't be able to do nearly as much harm without all their generals… Maybe we should focus on trying to deal with them more?" Luna suggested. It made sense to everyone, but they were all too tired to think on the matters. But if they did take out the generals, then perhaps these humans with Xeran Elite powers would stop appearing by whatever means they were coming from. The guardians still had yet to find out about the prison in the Xeran's ethereal dimension.

"Whatever we do, we can talk about it later. I'm going home," Ronnie Anne announced, wanting to get away from the others. Her arms felt horribly numb, much to her displeasure. She hoped she would get over it soon, but she now regretted not listening to Lisa.

"Uh… alright, Ronnie Anne. You have a goodnight, and we'll see you around," Lincoln let her go, though they received no reply from her as she left. The Loud family thought it was best to get home. Luna and Leni had to help Lori walk, while Lynn aided Lincoln. Now they would have to lie with a few excuses to explain what and where they all went, all to cover the long, stressful day they had encumbered.

* * *

Linka walked through the long halls of the Xeran's dimensional fortress with a grin on her face. She arrived to the medical bay where she saw Mirayu, having her face being treated. The hybrid was more than happy to see her masked face.

"Oh, Mirayu! It's a tragedy! Did you hear?!" Linka called out, gaining the beauty obsessed woman's attention. The general's mask changed to its blue and gloomy state.

"Yes… textoth came crying about Teronzata's demise. He was always so annoying, but he was loyal to the majesty," Mirayu sniffled. The textoth that escaped with the essence and their lives were more than able to tell everyone what had transpired. The general of defense, one who could regenerate from so many injuries from every grand battle of his, had fallen to the guardians.

"Ohh… Loki was so upset to hear the news. He is afraid he won't ever be able to learn all of the Xeran techniques now, and Lyn wanted to see how good his own fists could do against his sword… The other generals are hosting a memorial gathering in the training room," Linka exclaimed. The place where Teronzata resided the most and fought so many textoth was now going to be the area where he as commemorated in honor of his long, dedicated hard work. Even in the fear of death by the majesty's hand, he never fled and stayed loyal.

"I see… Thank you for informing me," Mirayu rubbed her eye.

"It is my pleasure, Mirayu," Linka then went off. That sad tone of guardian Red's clone vanished in a fraction of a second, and she grinned. The general of emotions was so upset that she forgot that Zeggfor had gone to get some rest in his personal room, while Shedun was in the prison area to find candidates for future battles, and BelGaner had been spending time with the sleeping majesty, trying to concoct ways to awaken him.

* * *

Thirty minutes passed, and Mirayu entered the training room. Something seemed odd about it. Nobody else was there beyond the two textoth in front of the double doors.

"Perhaps everything isn't prepared? That or I misheard the… hybrid?" the general of emotions' voice trailed away, when she looked over her shoulder to see the doors close and lock. Mirayu was about to grab the handle, only to see a wave of fire blast across the door, lighting it ablaze.

"What in the name of the majesty?!" The shocked general screamed. She then heard the spine chilling cackling of Linka. Mirayu turned around to see her in her morphed form, her three long claws scratching against the wooden floor.

"Hey there, ugly," Xerardian Red giggled, her head tilted. Mirayu began to pant as her mask changed to one of fury, and she began to change into her true monstrous form.

"If this is some prank, then you're going to be punished for doing it during times of mourning!" She stomped forward and thrust one of her large sets of clawed hands for the hybrid teenager.

"Scatter!" Another voice sounded, and dark sharp blue wave of energy suddenly shot out from the side. Mirayu's arm was sliced clean off, and it flopped lifelessly to the floor. She had no time to react as a training dummy slammed into her at lightning speed, knocking her back against the flaming door.

"You know you can't escape…!" a laugh echoed out, as out walked someone in a black Xerardian suit. It had bright yellow cracks running all across the body of the suit and looked quite muscular with the strong, but still movable fists for weapons.

"The textoth locked you in here with us for one reason," Xerardian Blue stepped out with one long serrated blade on his left arm. The dark blue suit had sharp spikes on the shoulders with white lines running from the boots, and to the helmet.

"What is…? What is this treachery?!" Mirayu tried to stand back up, but a painful, gaping slash across the shoulder kept her down. A burst of smoke blasted from her wound. She felt ashamed to be called a general. She had fallen for a trap because of her emotions. The very things she loved to manipulate. She never expected such an ironic death, aware they were not going to let her leave alive.

"The textoth agree that we would be better generals than all of you could be… we just need to get rid of you, Shedun and Zeggfor. Then it will just be me, Lyn, Loki and BelGaner, working for the majesty," Linka began to approach Mirayu. Her brothers, Loki and Lyn, followed beside her, all three of them laughing maniacally. Mirayu tried to break the door down with her one arm. She was too weak to bust it down. The textoth on the other side were keeping it closed.

"No… You monsters! Don't touch me or my essence! Nooo!"


	101. Gift

**Authors Note: Hello all, I wanted to clarify something from last chapter, the male version of Lynn is going to be called Lyn, so they will be easier to differentiate from. I hope you all enjoy and take care.**

Lincoln was currently in the garage with his guardian siblings, as well as Lisa and the orange haired little girl that Lori had learnt the name of during the fight against Xime. The lone Loud boy was amazed at how Luna had covered for them with a good excuse about the younger Louds ending up lost, and then the older Louds getting lost trying to find them, in a part of Royal Woods that none of them had ever been to before, until they all finally met up. The rock star was good at making up lies on the spot, which was far from shocking. Luna was the one who snuck out the most practically in the Loud family before the guardian ordeal began.

"We got the hard part done… Now what do we do about her?" Lynn quirked. Lisa continued working away at the workbench, after having hidden the art book and special brushes as a safety precaution.

"What kind of question is that?" Lincoln replied, aggravated, "We don't have any other option beyond taking care of her. She's got no history, and she possesses special abilities. Heck, we don't even know what decade her dimension was in before she wound up with the Xeran. Having Child Protective Services put her in some random area wouldn't be good."

"Lincoln, calm down. I never said we should call the CPS," Lynn motioned him. She had no intention of suggesting protective services. The only thing those services could protect was their horrid reputations.

"I can assure you, I asked her what her home was like, but she has seldom any recollection," Lisa said, not taking her eyes away from the workbench as she tried to assemble a complex piece to a rather small device, "The only thing she remembers is that there were an unusual amount of sunflowers."

"Well that's about as helpful as nothing else. Her name's Xerainter, by the way," Lori informed them. they all looked back and forth between each other. The orange haired Xeran child was not even paying them any attention, she was just tampering with a cube puzzle.

"That doesn't sound like her name, Lori. That just sounds like something the Xeran slapped onto her. …but why complain about it? The more important thing is who's going to take care of her," Luna popped the biggest question in everyone's minds. One of them would have to take care of a child who was so unpredictable that she could not be left unattended. They had no idea what she was capable of doing without those special tools of hers. The toddler could have more tricks than they knew.

"I'm already taking care of my two daughters. I can take care of her too, but I'd have to leave her alone when I'm at school," Lincoln claimed. He wanted to take care of the young girl, but if she could not be left unmonitored, he was not a valid candidate. He still had school to tend to. He was doing his best with Lisa and Lily, their parents oblivious to the strangely forged relationship.

"I'm in the same boat as him… except with sports on top of it," Lynn, though she was only allowing Lisa to treat her as her mother figure, was in a more busy position than her boyfriend was. They were all mainly worried about how their family members would treat the young girl and how she would react.

"Sorry bro. I got my music career to think about. I can only mix the guardian stuff up with it, I can't balance being a caretaker too. I'm on the phone more than Lori lately," Luna shook her head. She needed to plan her next concert. Now that she finally had gotten her foot in the door of the world of music, she could not back out more than she already had done.

"What about you, Lori?" Lincoln looked to their eldest sister, since she had a hand in helping raise all of the Loud siblings, she would be the best one naturally to take care of the child.

"I think she hates me… a lot," Lori declared. She felt a very strong radiating aura from Xerainter, even if she did not express it. The oldest Loud's siblings wanted to say she was being paranoid, but they were starting to feel it too, now that it was brought up.

"I'll do it!" Leni suddenly agreed with a bright face, before anyone even asked. Everyone looked to her. If it was not for their sister's IQ being lower than a first grade student's, they would agree without a second thought. They still did not exactly have any idea how the fashion designer made it out of high school.

"I am not entirely sure if this is an excellent idea. On one hand perhaps her innocent mind can link up with this presumably autistic child, but on the other hand, Leni never had the opportunity to handle taking care of younger ones alone," Lisa rambled on while black smoke began to spew from the small device. The child prodigy groaned, laying her head on the workbench. Lincoln patted her back in assurance that all would be well.

"What makes you so eager to agree, Leni?" Lynn asked, as Leni pat the Xeran-powered child on the head, gaining her attention as well.

"She's a painter, and I do a few things myself that's art, too! Maybe she'd open up to me by helping with my art, and I can help with hers in trade," Leni explained. Lincoln scratched his head in thought. Guardian White was not that far off. She was a fashion designer, with the ability to chisel wood into various shapes, and she was decent with tools, but nowhere near as good as Lana.

"That sounds pretty good… though I guess you're going to be the one to give her a name then," Lincoln spoke. He refused to call the child Xerainter. It seemed worse than an insult to him, and a forced reminder of what race she interacted with.

"Any objections to Leni taking care of her?" Lisa looked around to hear everyone's votes.

"I think she can do it," Lori made her vote.

"Nah man. I'm down with it," Luna agreed as well. If Leni did need any help at all, she could always come to her brother and sisters.

"Sounds good to me," Lynn shrugged. As long as her boyfriend was happy, she was happy.

"So it's agreed…" Lincoln nodded, "And I'll vote yes, too."

"How does that sound? Do you mind if I take care of you for now?" Leni asked the little Xerainter, gaining her attention. The young girl finally spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Okay…" she agreed. Leni hugged the child with a bright smile.

"Yay! You said more than 'I don't wanna' again! And this time to me!" Leni was very happy about that for some reason, though realized she would have to think up a name for the child. She left the garage with the orange haired child to try and show her the room they would be letting her stay in, which would then be hers and Lori's.

"Well, you all try and enjoy tonight. We saved a lot of people, and one of the generals is now gone…" Lincoln told everybody else, aware that no amount of lives saved would make the ones lost any less harming to the world.

"Alright bro. Take it easy," Luna headed off with her guitar on her side, wanting to go tune it and work on her next song.

"I need to go lay down before my back gives out," Lori groaned as she left Teronzata's sword beside the workbench. The device Lisa was working on was hopefully something to help with its ability to be hidden and carried easier.

"I'm going to go shower. You did great today, Lincoln. Try not to get upset," Lynn gave her brotherly boyfriend a hug and a kiss. After returning the love, he watched her leave with a smile on his face.

"So, Lisa," Lincoln turned to her, "I've been meaning to give you something for a while, but things just keep getting so crazy that I keep forgetting about it."

Lisa looked to her second father in confusion. She got up from the workbench, following him through the Loud house and upstairs to his room. The child prodigy wondered what he wanted to give her. It sounded familiar, but she had forgotten about that gift from when the army meeting occurred. Things had gotten so chaotic that they forgot all about it.

* * *

"What is it you wanted to give me dad?" Lisa asked. Lincoln patted her head with a light laugh.

"Lori told me about how every time you're scared or breaking down, you come to my room. I feel bad that I always can't be there for you… so, I wanted to give you someone I trusted since I was a baby, and that our older sisters trusted," Lincoln explained. Lisa looked immensely embarrassed when he mentioned her panic attacks. Lisa tried her best to keep them hidden, but undoubtedly Lori had found out about the multitudes of them since the Xeran first appeared. He handed over a small box to his second youngest sister, and she opened it.

"Wait… but dad… this is…" Lisa gasped when pulling out the all too familiar stuffed rabbit, bun-bun, from the tiny box. It was the family hand-me-down that the Loud parents got for Lori when she was born. Then, she gave it to Luan. Then, after many years and sisters, it went to Lincoln. Guardian Red cherished it so well. He recalled all those times he was unable to sleep, because Charles had stolen the stuffed animal and hidden it somewhere.

"Are you sure I can have bun-bun?" Lisa quirked. There were many other siblings in the younger side of the family, that she was concerned they might get jealous or upset.

"Lucy isn't really afraid of much, Lana and Lola have each other, and Lily has her blanket. You're the only one I can give this hand-me-down to, sweetheart," Lincoln insisted. He would be fine without him, as he rarely slept alone anymore. The restless nights had become a lot calmer when he began sharing his bed with Lynn.

"Thank you so much, dad… I'm always afraid the next time you go out to engage the Xeran will be your last. Every time you cut the communicator off, I'm scared that the clock will keep ticking without your presence ever being around…" Lisa sniffled, snuggling the stuffed rabbit in her arms. Lincoln, understanding her worries, picked up his sister and hugged her.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat. Then we can get some rest. We've all had a long day. You won't have to worry about me Lisa. I've got five great people watching out for me, and we all take care of each other," Lincoln reassured. The prodigy was more than glad to be reminded of the guardian project's members. She was quite tired from the late night, though wanted to get to tomorrow when things would hopefully be calm. They were still worried about Linka's brothers' appearance, and what they had planned for them. Lisa rested her head on Lincoln's shoulder with a bright smile.

"I love you, dad…"


	102. A Trap?

Guardian Gold growled as she picked up a car and threw it down the road and into a dozen textoth like they were bowling pins. Her Guardian suit's dial was cranked up to nine. The skeleton monsters had been attacking a part of the northern side of Royal Woods, and immediately she wasted no time going all out when she engaged them in battle.

"Guardian Gold!" she called out, "Guardian of the essence that grants courage to all life!"

The two elite textoth remaining began to take a few steps back, both terrified. The Santiago girl quickly grabbed two of the fallen skeleton warrior's jagged scimitars and threw them. They whirled for the elite textoth, impaling them both in the back. After two pain struck cries, the textoth hit the ground and began to wither into dust, their inner skeletal parts broken to tiny shards from how hard the attack was from the weapon thrown their way. Ronnie Anne panted as she stood there. The area was empty, bar her and the many dead textoth slowly turning into dust.

"That's about another thirty on my score now," the Santiago girl morphed back to normal, her gold star turning back into its sphere form as she put it away. She turned on her heels and began to walk the opposite way with her hands in her coat pockets, more aggravated than ever.

"Being a hero requires sacrifice… looks like my sacrifice is going to be my arms," Ronnie Anne thought to herself, trying to calm down mentally, but unable to physically. A constant crushing pressure surged around her arms, which seemingly only got worse every day that passed, and whether or not she morphed was irrelevant. No amount of rest helped, and Bobby was beginning to pester her about the pain as soon it was exposed to him. He was threatening to force his sister to the hospital, and she was terrified of the plausible results.

"Ronnie Anne!" she heard, and looked over her shoulder to see Lincoln and Luna.

"You're late again, Lame-o. I already beat'em all. I told you to not worry about it," Ronnie Anne spoke. Lincoln looked livid for the last week ever since she had received her guardian mode. Ronnie Anne had been tackling every fight head on without any assistance, or even care for her own well being. It was as if she was trying to upset him on purpose.

"Dude, Lisa called saying you had elite textoth on your tail! We ran all the way here!" Luna narrowed her eyes in irritation as she tossed her guitar over her shoulder onto her back. She and Lincoln had come prepared to engage this battle, albeit too late. The Santiago girl was quite injured, but she indeed came out on top in the situation.

"It's not my fault you're so slow! I beat them. What's so wrong about it?" Ronnie Anne demanded as some of the dust from the skeletons remains blew past them on the cold autumn wind. Winter was nearing, soon it would begin snowing in Royal Woods in a matter of days.

"We're supposed to be a team! What if there had been a general or a Xeran Elite? You could have been killed by the time we got here!" Lincoln's head neared against hers as they shared their furious glances between their eyes.

"That's why I had Lisa call you in case there was any! But just like all the other times lately, there has been nothing but stupid skeletons running around trying to steal essence," Guardian Gold replied. Things had gotten quite weird lately. There had been neither a single sighting of any elite Xeran nor any of the majesty's remaining generals. The guardians were hoping for the best, that maybe the Xeran had exhausted their ability to create elite monsters, but they did not want to go for such wishful thinking and risk dropping their guard.

Luna seemed to give up on the conversation with the arrogant guardian, leaving it to her only brother to handle, but even he looked fed up with it.

"I'm glad you're alright, but please, I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt. Things don't get as dangerous when more of us are there," Lincoln pleaded with his ex-girlfriend, those words of his seemed to strike deep in Ronnie Anne since his tone felt sincere she sighed while looking to the ground.

"Fine Lame-o… But only because I hate seeing you look ready to cry," Ronnie took a seat on a nearby bus stop with the other two, and rested there. The bus had driven through during that fight earlier. "How have things been at home?"

"They've been crazy, but nothing too new," Luna laid back as she answered, "I got my next concert booked next week."

"Lisa almost has an important thing completed, and Leni has really started getting Larixxa to relax to us. She almost looks like a mom now," Lincoln chuckled lightly. It had been an odd week. It almost made him thankful to Ronnie Anne for letting them have free time. Or if it was complete luck instead, neither he nor Luna knew.

"Larixxa?" Ronnie Anne chirped. She was engaging in this conversation to distract herself from the arm pain, and in turn hide it from them.

"It's that little girl. It seemed pretty creepy to call her Xerainter, so we told Leni to figure out a name for her. It took her three days, but she found a name that the kid liked," Luna explained. She had offered to help her elder sister come up with a name, but Leni insisted she should come up with it on her own, and had been particularly stubborn on this matter.

"She gets along with everyone pretty well. Lucy especially likes her," Lincoln claimed. Larixxa was so far doing fine in the Loud family, even if it may only be temporary, getting along well with the other children and somewhat playing along with whatever they wanted to do. Larixxa never complained. She just took any pain or things she disliked with no care. The Loud parents were more than welcoming of the child, as long as Leni was able to take care of her, as they thought it was only temporary.

"She's as weird as the rest of your family…" Ronnie Anne shook her head. She knew it there was a high priority reason for taking care of the Xeran-powered child. "Have you talked to her about getting us to the Xeran dimension?"

"She told us she can do it, but it wouldn't be easy. We need a lot of essence spheres. We only have four left after making yours, Luna's and Leni's suits and weapons," Lincoln responded. He did not know how many exactly they needed, but they trusted Larixxa with this. She had no motive to stab them in the back, but they still could not get her to tell them what Shedun had promised her in a deal to make her cause chaos.

"It's either essence spheres or we start stealing essence ourselves. 'Cause the amount needed to make one portal is enough to kill all six of us," Luna added on with an irritated groan. Even her only brother had shot down that idea instantly. Normally he would thoroughly explore all options, but everyone thought it was crazy.

"I knew them not sending out elites lately somehow was a bad thing," Ronnie Anne was not sure what to think. Her mind was full of mainly annoyance. It was a miracle that her ex-boyfriend was not out for blood, or doing like she was and intercepting the enemies before they could become a threat. The Santiago girl usually found out through Lisa first, unless she stumbled upon it herself.

"I feel like they're planning to hinder us, but…" Lincoln stopped when the three heard a ringing from one of their cellphones. He answered it right this second. "Hello?"

"I'm glad to see you were not required to morph, dad," Lisa spoke up through the phone, "Because General Eugene has received several emergency calls that had been made to 911 from a television studio in the eastern area. Mirayu and a lot of textoth have secretively taken it over from the inside, but their motive is still unknown."

"Mirayu? The beauty obsessed one trying to get on television? Thanks for telling us, honey. Let the others know and we'll be right there," Lincoln hung up. He was confused though. He and the other two beside him could not put together what Mirayu could be doing at a television studio, of all things.

"We should be careful, they were able to take the place over secretly yet they didn't try to stop the people from calling for help?" Luna pointed out the odd discrepancies in this takeover. Lincoln wondered what exactly his sister meant. A TV studio had a lot of people inside it. A lot of trouble would arise from keeping eye on everybody inside.

"They didn't kill them for essence right away either. The Xeran want us to come, lame-o." Ronnie Anne added to Luna's statement, but it just instilled worry in their minds. Guardian Gold and Guardian Purple wanted to hear their leader's decision. "So? What should we do?"

"…well, first things first. We're not going to rush in blind," Lincoln answered, "We're going to meet up with Lori, Lynn and Leni, then we'll go from there we can make a plan, when we find out how bad the situation really is."

"Alright, bro," Luna agreed, "We'd better get moving."

"No point in waiting here for them. We'll meet up with them a half mile from the studio," Ronnie Anne insisted not to stay idle, in case the situation demanded their immediate attention. Guardian Red felt annoyed that his ex-girlfriend just wanted to dive into a fight with no care, but he agreed as long as they understood this one important goal they had planned.

"Fine…" Lincoln huffed, "But remember; we're there to save the people, but we also want to get rid of Mirayu. Let's go."


	103. Maze Separation

**Authors Note: Hello all, I wanted to let you all know that we are essentially at the last 10% of the story, I hope you all are enjoying this story and once again thank you for the 55k views and all the support. Take care!**

"Out of my way!" Shedun punched aside a few textoth as he walked through the television studio. The place seemed flooded with textoth, all running around to set things up, such as fake walls or hidden cameras. The prison general arrived to the main control room that had hundreds of small television screens set up.

"Mirayu! There you are! You acted without consulting or planning with any of the other generals! What is the meaning of this?!" Shedun demanded. There stood Mirayu looking over everything. Her mask seemed flat and lifeless, her clothing tattered and damaged. She seemed to have lost all care for her looks. There was an ominous glow to her eyes.

"What the… Those are the guardians' clones? What are you all doing?" Shedun then noticed three different rooms shown on the many monitors. Each room housed one the guardian clones, Linka, Loki and Lyn, all of who had taken some of the workers of the TV studio into various back rooms and were setting preparations in the rooms, mainly with drawing odd symbols on the floor and walls.

"They are going to become generals by dealing a harsh blow to the guardians' personal lives," Mirayu flatly responded while trying to adjust a few things. Shedun was not feeling right about this. He hated the general of emotions with a lot of his own being, but he thought it would not be the same if another general were to drastically change. Having the Xeran human hybrids become generals would certainly do just that exact change to everyone.

"Their personal lives? We don't care for their personal lives! What would the majesty think of this asinine plan, one being led by half breeds at that?!" Shedun requested. The general of emotions loved the Xeran race's leader. She would never disobey a regulation, even if he was still comatose.

"The guardians' identities are secret to most of the world. I noticed that I never saw them outside of their suits on the television. Secrets are being kept, and I'm sure if those secrets got out, chaos would ensue, and they would be the ones in the core middle of it," Mirayu giggled, barely giving a glance at Shedun. She cracked her wrists. "Doesn't this sound like the perfect plan? Even BelGaner would praise me for this."

"I'm afraid not. He'd call you a coward and a fool. Because this isn't your plan. It is those halflings' plan," Shedun shook his head, "You were once a beautiful woman. I was more than pleased to follow your orders. Then when I got out from my imprisonment, all I was greeted by was an ugly witch."

His attempts to insult the general of emotions' appearance did nothing to force a reaction from her. He was saddened that she was not the fellow general he worked with prior.

"Just do me a favor and get lost, Shedun," Mirayu responded in a hostile fashion. The general of the prison turned his back to her and left, his keys clanking against each other as he walked. Shedun stopped midway in one of the many long hallways, gritting his teeth. His former master was dead. The woman he once cared for was another being. With the majesty asleep, only Zeggfor and BelGaner remained untouched.

"I should be thankful that Xerainter got killed by the guardians. Showing someone a monster of what was once someone precious to them is hard for anybody to do. …What is the point of my freedom when everyone around me rots away?" he grumbled to himself while keeping the palm of his hand against a wall. For some reason, the general of the prison felt an immense headache beginning to set in on him.

"…I know what to do to get rid of this faker."

* * *

"So far everything is just locked down tight," Lincoln slightly rattled the locked gate with many chains around it. By now, all of the guardians had grouped together and had just begun to try and enter the premises. There was no security protecting the gate, or even the general grounds.

"It looks abandoned," Lynn commented. Lori reached for her side where her swords hilt was sticking out. Lisa had made a shrinking bag that would minimize the blade's size to make it compact and more portable, she personally loved it. The oldest Loud drew her blade and slashed right through the chains. They, and the lock, all clattered to the ground while emitting smoke. Ronnie Anne helped pull the gate open for them to enter the grounds, quietly.

"You said Mirayu is supposed to be in here somewhere?" Leni asked. She just felt afraid and unsure whenever generals were in the picture.

"No doubt about that," Lincoln nodded, insisting that was the case.

"Guess we're going in through the front entrance," Ronnie Anne spoke, finding this to be a somewhat stupid idea. She could understand that if there were people in danger, then drawing all attention to themselves would hopefully help save their lives. As long as they stayed on their top guard, barely a single trap would be able to catch them.

"You know it, dude!" Luna kicked open the door with her guitar in hand, and strummed on the strings, letting out a loud rift of noise. Everyone got ready, expecting a horde of textoth to descend upon them at any given second. However, there was nothing but an eerie silence throughout the building.

"Huh?" Lori stepped forward. She saw no human and no monster, but saw an odd trail of scrapes and weapon marks on the floors and walls. The textoth often made these by complete accident from how carelessly they carried their jagged bone weapons.

"This has to be part of the trap… come on. We have no choice but to follow them," Lincoln insisted, wanting to take things the safer way since there were no signs of their immediate presence being required. That did not stop the group of guardians from moving hastily through the halls.

"Huh? Hey Lori, look," Leni stopped her older sister. There were piles of dust in a passing room that were left from textoth at one point. Otherwise there was nothing in that room beyond weird drawings on the floor.

"Whatever there is, there's nothing in there. Now come on. We need to look for textoth… that are… still alive…?" Lori's voice trailed off when she turned back to continue following the other guardians. They had vanished without a trace. There should have been four ways to go in the hallway, but seemingly now there were only three.

"Wh-where'd everybody go?" Leni whimpered, shuffling closer to Guardian Blue and drawing her laser blaster. Lori pulled out her three-tipped blue star.

"No clue, but here. Put this with your gun, we're about to get attacked," Lori advised. It had become a sixth sense for her. When textoth were near, she felt chills going down her arms. Sure enough they saw a good horde of textoth flood into the hallway from various sides of other rooms, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Eek! Alright! Alright!" Guardian White put the three-tipped blue star on the back of her blaster and put her eight-tipped white star on top of it. She watched them begin spinning in opposite directions from one another as the textoth began to charge for them.

"Boost! Ammo change! Monster piercer!" her blaster echoed. Leni took aim and pulled the trigger, watching a bright blue blast fire from her weapon and fly the hall, hitting one textoth after another and piercing them all like a long blade. The textoth's cries of agony echoed as they were hit by the devastating combined attack.

"Nice shot," the gun complimented. The two oldest Louds were relieved to see just leftover bone dust covering the entire hallway.

"But what do we do now? Everyone's just vanished!" Leni returned the star to her older sister.

"The same thing we were doing a minute ago when it happened. Walk around blindly and hope for the best," Lori claimed as she put her star away. They began to hear more of the textoth's odd screeching as more of them began to appear from the other hallways, leaving only one open for the guardians to escape down.

"Scratch that. Run!" Lori grabbed Leni's hand and ran off. She would gladly tackle any amount of textoth head on, but the environment was so small that it would make it harder to use her sword, and they would get even more easily overwhelmed. They just hoped the other guardians were okay.

* * *

"How did this happen?" Lincoln had wound up alone, separated from everybody in a matter of minutes. Everybody had seemingly vanished within the buildings suddenly shifting walls, and no matter how much he backtracked, there was no sign of his family or ex-girlfriend. They had ostensibly become separated, long before he could fathom what went down. He feared that he was losing control of his mind with every day that passed. All he could do now was continue following the trail of blade marks in hopes of finding them again.

"What? They end here?" Lincoln noticed the blade marks stop at a weird room. The strange ritualistic markings were carved all over the floor and walls they looked strangely familiar. He took a moment to view the drawing and analyze it. "Wait a minute these drawings look like… Linka's mask!"

"Well, hello there!" Linka was seated in a chair in the very room where the blade marks ended, where the very drawing lay, which resembled her mask that Lincoln saw before.

"Linka?! You're alive?! Lori told me you were destroyed! I thought taking your heart would've stopped you from reviving," Lincoln was wide eyed, recalling how Lori had stolen the clone's heart. He expected not to see even a trace of the clone after that.

"I have more than just one heart, you idiot," Linka sneered out the truth. The Xeran hybrids had plenty of other hearts to spare. "And let me just say, all that happened really hurt! Especially having one of my daughters turn on me, and shoot me in the back! It was so sad that I just came back an enraged wreck!"

Lincoln heard the door shut behind him. He tried to grab for the handle, but it burnt his hand and made him jerk back in pain. Lincoln soon noticed a small amount of his essence bleed off of the little burn mark.

"Sorry, but you're not leaving," Linka giggled, "These marks are how we can get the essence out of you. Every time you touch a mark is another ounce of essence lost… and to make sure you're sucked dry of your essence, I'm going to throw you around the room."

"You're not serious…" Lincoln muttered. There was no escape. He could not find a vent, window or other door. Linka planned on taking him hostage as a personal essence dispenser, just like before when they last fought. Lincoln pulled out his red curve-tipped star.

"Ah, ah, ah! No morphing! We're on camera!" Linka clapped. Lincoln raised an eyebrow. He was not able to see the cameras. They were hidden around the room, but they were more than able to see them from all angles.

"What cameras? I'm not some snobby TV celebrity," he replied to his female doppelganger. Though if this trap was set for him, it meant that a similar trap was made for the others. He never knew how big of a threat his clone was making it to be.

"You will be after this blows over," Linka brushed her hair out of her face, "We spent the last day and a half preparing all this, y'see. I have a lot of your memories, too. And guess what? I know they'd be sooo upset if your dear family found out the truth about you and everyone else. If you try to morph and resist, the cameras will go live on all the channels they can take over on television, under the guise of an emergency service announcement."

Lincoln felt his heart skip a beat. This TV studio had been run by textoth the last near two days. The hostages that the Xeran human hybrid had taken were forced to make those phone calls to police. This trap was all in perfect place.

"That's messed up, Linka! What kind of coward fights like that? … though I guess if you do have all of my memories, no wonder you know nearly all my younger siblings watch a lot of Nickelodeon," Lincoln shuddered. There was no doubt that one of his family members, whom he had been keeping his hero duties secret from, would see him on television morphing, and they would alert everybody else without a second of hesitation.

"I know that too well. So I'll be doing them a favor by interrupting reruns," Linka cooed, "So are you going to surrender? The textoth are waiting to start the broadcast… though, I dunno if they'll do anything to the hostages. But come on Lincoln, there isn't anything wrong with being a chicken."

"…no way," Lincoln gripped the red star tight in his hand, watching his essence begin to pour into it. He put it into the back of his guardian gauntlet.

"Nobody calls me chicken, I'm not going to cower out no matter how many cameras you put on me! Especially when lives are in danger!"


	104. Behind The Helmets

"It appears it is all going well," Mirayu watched over the many monitors from the main room, which displayed the guardians separated and in different states of shock and awe. Lori and Leni were trapped with Loki, and Luna and Lynn were trapped with Lyn. The general of emotions however could not see all of the guardians. Ronnie Anne was not in any of the rooms.

"Skree-kee-ke?" one of the textoth spoke, seeing minor motions from Linka. It was meant to signal them to start the broadcast. The masked monster heard the door to the monitor filled room force open. Ronnie Anne stood outside.

"What in the?! How did you get here? This room was highly secured!" Mirayu formed into her monstrous state. However, her mask did not change expressions. Two textoth got cameras and went to separate sides as another started up the broadcast.

"I got caught up fighting your shield carrying buddy," the Santiago girl got out the golden sphere, clicking it in and turning into its star form. The gear on her back began to move onto her arm as the one piece went onto her chest. She inserted her star into it and closed the cover, not caring for the cameras on her.

* * *

Bobby was at work as a security guard for a small mall for family businesses. It was one of his many jobs, and one of his most honest, since anyone shoplifting tended to be caught easily. Everyone around was sincere and more than glad to help.

"Hm? What's going on? Is there a problem?" the Santiago boy noticed a group of people gathered around the electronics store, which usually sold televisions and offered repairs for older, outdated hardware. The security guard noticed several people looking to him. They let him come through to see for himself.

"Lori? Ronnie Anne?!" Bobby's eyes went wide instantly on screen. He could see the Louds and his little sister. He was scared, because of the Xeran monsters on screen as well. The other people watching the many televisions heard about the two from the friendly security guard. They could only keep their focus on the cameras.

* * *

"Oh cursed timing…" Lisa groaned. She was helping her mother to help find something from the garage. She needed a specific frying pan for cooking dinner tonight. She heard a set of six loud beeps from her laptop all at once. What she heard was the individual alerts for the guardian suits being prepared to be activated.

"Hm? What was that, honey?" Rita's attention was caught. Whenever alarm or alert like noises were connected to Lisa, it tended to mean bad news for an experiment going out of control.

"Oh! Err… apologies, mother. That's my email notifications. I have it set that loud whenever important individuals email me," Lisa gave the first lie in mind. Her mother was not too knowledgeable with technology, so she bought it easily.

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Lola's Loud panicked call rung out, aching their eardrums.

"I'm coming Lola!" Rita left the garage. Lisa exhaled in relief, thankful for her spoiled sibling's unintentional aid. She went to the workbench and hopped up onto the stool she always used to boost herself up to a higher height.

"I suppose this means they've discovered the trap. I still cannot fathom what they could do in a television studio, of all places," Lisa opened the laptop as she spoke to herself. The guardian suits were prepared and ready to be called upon. She was glad Ronnie Anne had let her finish the guardian gold suit.

"Wh-what is this?!" Luan's fear filled voice was enough to make Lisa divert her attention from her computer. She hopped down from the stool, ready to investigate why her family sounded upset.

"Lisa, there you are, honey. I was about to come get you," Lynn Sr. stood nearby. Lisa quirked an eyebrow, following him off to the living room. She could see the remaining family members seated in front of the television, all focused on the screen. When Lisa saw what was on the television, she was shocked.

"Oh, critical plutonium… how did I know?" Lisa saw the family members on the screen, standing before the separate Xerardians in their rooms.

"Why are they on TV? Why are they with those… monsters?" Lana could only whimper. They had taken Lily to her crib before it happened. The Loud parents wanted to just shut the television off and ignore it all, but their children were near these monsters. Larixxa was the only one not showing any emotion. Even Lucy was not able to hide her fear.

* * *

"Y'know, I was going to do that anyway, right? The whole offer was just to make me not look like a completely irredeemable hybrid," Linka giggled. Lincoln put his red curve-tipped star into his gauntlet, hearing the back of it lock securely in place.

* * *

"I'm the greatest swordsman alive! Now that Teronzata's dead, even if he didn't get to teach me everything, I'm sure as the abyss a lot better than this one trick pony that you call a woman! You and we may be alike, but you humans will never be as strong as the Xeran," Loki pinned his blade on the ground. Leni put her white eight-tipped star on the back of her guardian blaster, while Lori put her blue three-tipped star into her phone and closed it.

* * *

"We wasted a lot of time, essence and energy to set this all up. You should be thanking us for that kind of honor! We even let things be fair and let you guys double your numbers against us but no amount of guardians is going to save you," Lyn cracked his large monstrous knuckles. Lynn glared at her male doppelganger, put her black rough-tipped star into her vest and closed it. Luna made the lower half of her guitar retract and slid the purple musical note-tipped star down. She watched it grow and become the replacement for the guitar.

* * *

Mirayu threw Ronnie Anne against the wall, where she was then assailed by multiple textoth. The Santiago girl groaned as she forced herself back onto her feet, not caring for the cameras recording her every move from the few textoth around hiding in the backs of the crowd.

"Ohhh… that looked like it hurt… are you ready to give up now?" the general of emotions asked, her mask still not changing expressions, when it should be showing nothing but joy for the victory.

"For the general of emotions, you sure don't know crap about human emotions," Ronnie Anne got up and began to turn the dial on her guardian gear all the way up to ten, and she pointed at the masked monster, "What do I have behind this? Nothing but the world blowing behind us all to fight you freaks."

* * *

"I'm going to fight until I die. I swore to that the second I gave my essence to my weapons, and when I started saving lives." Lincoln glared down his female clone. She tilted her head in a minor confusion.

* * *

"I got my revenge a long time ago, but there were so many lives lost because of you Xeran! Even if we're just another one of the many planets about to wither and die, we're not going to stand and let it happen! We'll at least slow it down!" Lori began to input her code into her guardian phone.

"We're nothing like you monsters at all! We weren't born to fight blindly! We're normal people just like nearly all of you Xeran were at one point!" Leni spun the star on the back of her guardian blaster furiously. Loki gave an excited devious grin.

* * *

"We sacrificed too much to just give up! We're not just doing this to keep only our loved ones safe! We're not going to let you ruin any more families if we can help it! We're fighting to make sure nobody else's families get torn apart!" Luna strummed her guitar, hard.

"Essence connects the worlds, every last one of them, and everyone in them is connected through that essence! You monsters take those connections and turn those bonds into weapons! That's unforgivable! Even if we die, there will be more people like us guardians, determined to punish you for your crimes!" Lynn dug her fists on the ground, breaking it slightly. Her male clone kept steady, despite the small quake.

* * *

 **"Guardian mode! Engage!"** the guardians were surrounded by their individual colors of essence, and they absorbed them into their bodies.

"Guardian Red! Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life!" Lincoln spiked his gauntlet-covered fist into the floor, watching a burst of fire erupt around him as the embers infused with the essence and encased his body. His suit and helmet materialized, and his guardian gauntlets claws extended.

"Guardian Black! Guardian of the essence that grants strength to all life!" Lynn crashed her fists together, watching the black essence burst out and encased her body into her guardian suit, swiftly through the darkness. Her helmet emerging in her hands, before she put it on her head.

"Guardian Blue! Guardian of the essence that grants tranquility to all life!" Lori brought her guardian phone out, bringing it beside her head, watching as her helmet appeared. She twirled her sword as her guardian suit materialized onto her body.

"Guardian White! Guardian of the essence that grants love to all life!" Leni fired a laser from her guardian blaster into the air. It exploded, raining down white particles all over her body. Her guardian suit and helmet appeared together simultaneously, as her short white cape flicked slightly in the brewing wind of essence.

"Guardian Purple! Guardian of the essence that gives the world energy!" Luna jumped up, twanging the strings of her star guitar and spinning around. The essence burst off her guitar and quickly latched onto her. Her guardian suit and helmet appeared from it.

"Guardian Gold! Guardian of the essence that grants courage to all life!" Ronnie Anne called out, her arms sparking slightly as she flexed. The golden essence causing her shimmering golden guardian suit to appear from head to toe.

* * *

None of them cared for the trap, despite the fact it was displayed all on screen. The world was stunned to see the true identities under the guardians' helmets.

"Oh... Lori... Ronnie Anne..." Bobby had nearly passed out from seeing his little sister and girlfriend morph, the shock too much for him to handle.

* * *

"This is what Lincoln does as Guardian Red huh...Never thought I'd get to see it live." even Clyde, while he was watching the TV from his home saw this. He already knew his identity as Guardian Red, but it seemed was not scared enough for Lincoln's mental health. Here he saw him on screen, putting himself in the gravest of danger like that, as was his sisters and Ronnie Anne. He never anticipated his best buddy to go into such dire circumstances.

* * *

"Oh… my… gosh…" Rita could only cover her mouth. Lynn Sr. could only feel an overwhelming sense of anger, feeling worthless as they all watched the guardians begin the fight on television. They saw how violent the brawls were. It was only now when they learned that the Loud children were in harm's way. Lola and Lana looked ready to cry as Luan held them close to her, Lucy had vanished once again, and Lily had begun crying from her crib upstairs like she could sense the dramatic atmosphere taking over the house.

"Lisa?" Larixxa was taken by Lisa into the garage during the stunned confusion of everything, "Where are we going?"

"We discussed what to do in the event of this type of emergency. Our family will surely do nothing but get in the way. We're to go to a certain destination and meet up with dad and everybody with all of the materials we can bring," Lisa handed over a decently sized bag to Larixxa. It had come down to this. The Xeran had made things push far beyond the boiling point. The door remained locked tight as the two began to grab the various hidden materials and supplies from the garage. Larixxa just followed orders from the panicked and frustrated Lisa.

"Please, everyone… stay safe. I fear the end is near."


	105. The General Of Emotions Strings

Several textoth screeched as they received a slash of golden aura from Ronnie Anne's attack. She ducked under a chunk of floor thrown at her from Mirayu, but was unable to dodge the slash from the set of claws that hacked her across the chest, knocking her back.

"This is why I hate anything with long claws! It just hurts!" Ronnie Anne held her sparking chest in pain, wobbling in place on her legs. She cranked the dial up to ten, and instantly she had to bite her lip to suppress a cry of agony from escaping her vocal chords. Her arms felt ready to give out entirely. She focused her attention back on the general of emotions.

"You guardians are always in the way! It's annoying and becoming more unfair each day!" Mirayu's exclamation confused a lot of the textoth around them. Ronnie Anne was trying to recall something from when she tried fighting Shedun earlier, which ended in a silly chase that led her to this control room. The prison general had told her to say something around the general of emotions, should she have gotten stuck in a difficult battle.

"No matter how big an audience you control, this show's still going to be a bust!" Ronnie Anne spoke. Those words seemed cut through the masked general's skull like a knife. The Santiago girl took that minor opening of the pained stun as a chance. She jumped up, driving a hard left hook right into Mirayu's face. Her mask cracked slightly upon the mere contact of the electric-powered blow.

"Gaahh…" Mirayu's face was cracking. Small parts were falling off of it. Guardian Gold was surprised that what Shedun had blurted out to her had worked. It meant he was not trying to trick her.

"You hid behind that mask long enough! This puppet show's not being run by you, it's being run by the marionettes you loved!" Ronnie Anne dodged another set of textoth blades, she grabbed the two textoth by their chests, hoisted them in the air and slammed their heads against each other. The electrical smoke filled the air as she tossed them aside.

"M…my puppets… Why betray me…? I loved you all…" Mirayu was back to her normal, monstrous form, her mask crumbled to pieces. She covered her face with her hands, while the other textoth in the room were looking concerned. Ronnie Anne was about to initiate her guardian finisher, before she could however she noticed the majesty's dark purple essence bleed from the remnants of the mask, and from Mirayu's tears.

"What's going on?!" Guardian Gold asked the textoth, but they had already started their desperate escape from the room, dropping the cameras and leaving them behind. Ronnie Anne was engulfed by the rapidly growing dark sphere caused by the majesty's escaped essence, which inevitably took over the entire room absorbing her inside of it.

* * *

Guardian Gold looked around. She saw nothing but complete darkness. She was not in her morphed form, and her arms almost felt ready to fall off. She ignored the pain, though she hated this feeling of the suffocating environment around her.

"Shedun! I'm not going to be trapped here if that was your plan all along!" Ronnie Anne shouted. She made her backpack begin to extend into its weapon form as it slid down both arms one piece, going onto her chest.

"I'm not wasting time here! I have to save my friends!" Ronnie Anne pulled out the golden sphere, clicked it in her hand and watched it turn into its spherical star form. She inserted it into her guardian gear, closed the cover and turned the dial to 7, watching as her arms began to spark with electricity.

"Here we go! Guardian Finisher! Overcharge! Engage!" Ronnie Anne jumped up and slammed both fists into the ground, watching the electrical current shoot down her arm and spread throughout the shadows. The darkness itself seemed to shake to match the feelings surging in her arms. The Santiago girl saw the damage she had done to the rip. Just then, it started to repair itself.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ronnie Anne turned the dial up to nine and punched her fist forward, watching a lightning bolt blast out and crash into the darkness, creating a small rip. She then turned the dial to 10, and she charged right for it, grabbing the sides of the rip.

"I waited so long to become a guardian! I'm not going to die here when I still have to prove to Lincoln I'm worth that second chance!" Ronnie Anne gritted her teeth and tried to force the tear open. It seemed like the darkness itself was trying to trap her inside it, while drawing out her most saddening thoughts. Yet the painful electricity from her star continued coursing down her arms, biting at her already stressed nerve endings. Finally, with a pain struck scream, Ronnie Anne ripped the dark essence surrounding her wide open. She watched as it began to fade away, as if it had given up upon realizing it was unable to contain her. She fell onto one knee and panted.

* * *

"Huh…? Oh, where am I now? I hate this teleporting crap…" Guardian Gold panted, while turning the dial down and morphing back to normal to take some stress off her body, as well as her arms. Now there was a small theater room surrounding her. The light sounds of clacking wood soon hit her ears. Her unsure mind was telling her that this was somehow not real, but it felt so much like real life that, she really could not believe her minds warnings.

"I swear if I see Shedun, I'm decking him…"

Ronnie Anne began to walk past the small stage to follow the clacking noise. Further ahead, she noticed a lot of hand crafted wooden dolls all over the place, some dangling from the ceiling, some on shelves, and sitting on the floor. The Santiago girl felt uncomfortable. It felt like they all were watching her, tracing her every step.

"…hello?" she called out. Her eyes gazed further to that long, rainbow haired wig as the familiar hum rang out. A body clad in a pretty dress was seated, working on a new puppet.

"Hmm… I didn't expect to see you one last time, Guardian Gold…" Mirayu turned around, revealing herself as a young woman, more beautiful than the monstrous form as a general ever did. A small puppet of herself in her former monstrous form was snug in her arms, which looked cuter than scary.

"Mirayu? Where are we?" Ronnie Anne was surprised to see the general of emotions in her normal human form. Mirayu hoisted the puppet up by her strings and began to make it stand up on the table, spinning the puppets mask to a sad face.

"My memories… ohh… it's sad that death is when I remember everything, but the majesty's essence was what kept me young. I thank you for making things clearer for me... I wish I had that kind of courage. If I had, then I would never have done half the things I've done," Mirayu began to make the marionette monster version of herself dance. The Santiago girl had no clue how long they would be here. Being in someone else's memories felt odd to her, for some reason she felt like they were on a timer too.

"What's that supposed to mean? How did you even join with the Xeran in the first place?" Ronnie Anne decided to ask while watching the little puppet dancing in front of her. It felt easier to talk to the doll representing the monster that had been trying to kill her just a few moments ago, than the true Mirayu.

"Well, you see, I've been… more of the manipulator type. When my family died to the plague, I had no way to survive on my own... My world was nowhere near as advanced as yours at this time. So I did what I did best. I used my charm and my body, I manipulated men and women to aid me in survival," Mirayu decided to confess, since this was where she would die once this small world they were in vanished.

"That far back in history… Guess events aren't much different, no matter what world," Ronnie Anne shrugged, but could catch the gist of what Mirayu meant.

"I can't say for certain if that is true or not. My memories of the worlds I've assailed are nothing but blurs. Perhaps I've chosen to block them out because I can't face them," she rested the marionette down, "One day, after I had grown up, I wound up meeting a rather nice man. Things looked like they could return to normal. Time passed, and before I knew it, I had created a child with him, and I mastered the craft of puppet making… but our poor daughter didn't come close to growing up, before the day the Xeran appeared, and cornered us after killing so many right before our very eyes. When the majesty read my mind, he had fascination of how I manipulated people."

The general of emotions stood up and went over to one of the many shelves, beginning to rummage around it. Ronnie Anne could see sunflowers blooming outside the window. She soon had an inkling of who the puppet maker's child was.

"So what did you do?"

"I was a mess. They had killed my husband in front of me, and were going to kill us too if I did nothing. I became the general for the majesty's army as long as he let my daughter live. I don't know where she is now," Mirayu wanted to continue crying. She presented another puppet of a familiar, orange haired girl holding a paintbrush in one hand and a big sunflower in the other. Ronnie Anne took the marionette and looked it over, Mirayu watching her do so.

"I loved what I did when I discovered how to make puppets. I was able to bring joy to everyone, from children to adults. I was loved by quite a lot of people like that."

"I'm not going to tell you that none of this was your fault…" the golden guardian patted her back, trying to calm her down, "A lot of people are dead because of you, and a lot more got hurt… but I'll tell you this, your daughter is fine. The Xeran tried to send her out as a weapon, but Lincoln… I mean, Guardian Red got her to come peacefully. Guardian White is taking care of her now."

"Really…?!" Mirayu had a burst of happiness in her heart. She wrapped her arms around her, slightly crushing her. Guardian Gold's arms hurt a lot more now. "You guardians are truly miracles of some form! Those hybrid children brutalized me and then took my mind over with their essence, it was awful! You saved me from that horrible life of being the puppet instead of the puppeteer."

"Don't thank me… Shedun told me what to say during the little fight and running I did with him," Ronnie Anne claimed, making the puppet maker tilt her head in confusion. The general of the prison was the last one she anticipated to even want to help her at all.

"Shedun told you how to help me? Well… I don't know what to say. I barely could stop myself from killing him. Can you thank him for me?" Mirayu requested. Soon, the world was beginning to vanish around them and slowly turning into a rainbow variety of essence, and the two were quick to notice.

"Uhh… yeah, I will… y'know, you reminded me of my relationship. My ex-boyfriend had a lot of courage for me, and I punished him for it. Even if we're both guardians, I don't think he'll ever give me another chance, he's with another guardian now." Ronnie Anne admitted while she nodded. Only the small area around them remained after that was said.

"Advice is the least I can give you, as a token of gratitude. You're probably not going to get another chance, if what ended your relationship was very bad. You'll hurt both yourself him and his new love if you approach that request for another chance blindly. It's up to you to decide whether or not to continue trying," Mirayu handed over the doll of Larixxa and her former monster form. Ronnie Anne wanted to ask for the child's true name, but she noticed the general of emotions begin fading away. Ronnie Anne thought maybe it would be best if Larixxa didn't regain all of her memories.

"Thanks a lot… Your daughter's in good hands with Guardian White. She'll take care of her for you… and she is now," Ronnie Anne then saw that same hopeful smile on Mirayu's face, as her body was almost dissolved into essence.

"Thank you, Guardian Gold… please end the cycle of pain the majesty has fashioned upon us," the rest of Mirayu vanished, leaving Ronnie Anne standing in a bright white area.

* * *

After a few moments, she gasped. She lay in the floor of the security room, alone. She felt a lot better as she forced herself onto her feet.

"Wow… I look like I never got touched," Ronnie Anne thought while looking at herself through the lens of one of the cameras that a textoth had dropped, not caring about the unintentional close up on television. She tossed the recording equipment aside, but then noticed the two puppets she was given by the late Mirayu were on the floor. She picked them up and stuffed them away in her bag.

"It's going to suck that my arms are going to be hurting again in the next few minutes…" Ronnie Anne huffed before she headed off. The next time she entered Guardian Gold mode, she would be hurt no matter how much luck she had. Her arms were not used to the mechanical augmentation implanted in them, nor did they have a chance to adjust. Guardian Gold rushed off, wanting to go help everyone else. But their identities were exposed to the world. The other guardians would know as well as she did that there was nothing they could do about it.

"Hang on, Lame-o! I'm coming!"


	106. Lost Strength

"Come on! Is that all you have?!" Lyn laughed as he was tackled by Guardian Black. She tried to pin his arms to his sides. Luna fired a sonic wave from her guitar, hitting the Xeran hybrid in the head but causing nothing more than a small burst of smoke to blast from his face.

Lynn's hold was broken with relative ease, and her male doppelganger grabbed her by the head and dunked her on the floor hard enough to crack her helmet. He spun around and chucked her like a ragdoll at Luna, who then caught her in her arms, although she too felt the forceful throw.

"Are you okay, Lynn?!" Luna worriedly asked. A blast of ice then went for them. Guardian Purple quickly turned her back to it to protect her vulnerable sister. The ice blast hit her in the middle of her back, it felt like the cold was piercing her from both ends.

"Luna!" Lynn got out of her sister's arms and pulled her out of the way, watching as the continuous beam of ice hit the wall and froze it into a large, frozen rock, with tiny spikes coming off it.

"Ohhh, man… Th-that hurt…" Luna murmured through her chattering teeth. Thankfully as long as they were morphed, they did not run the risk of losing essence to the marks all over the room, but they were certainly burning a lot more up trying to not be easily pushed over as well.

"It is amazing what you can do with essence at your bidding, you just have to be strong enough to force it to obey like a disobedient child," Lyn bashed his knuckles together and began to charge at the two. Lynn stood up to face her Xeran counterpart and punched against his large fists, gritting her teeth and feeling the impact shake up her arm and through her entire body.

The two began to spar, like a violent boxing match. Every blow that was exchanged seemed to make the Xeran hybrid faster, Lynn got him with an uppercut to the jaw, when she suddenly felt his over sized knuckles hit her in the face. She stumbled back in agony as a part of her guardian suit's helmet broke off and clattered to the floor.

"Ough… I knew I should've trained more intensely when I became a guardian," Lynn coughed. Smoke was burning from her entire body. Luna was able to force herself back onto her feet and strum her guitar, sending out a sonic wave that Xerardian Black punched right through.

"Let's do this Lynn!" Guardian Purple called out.

"Alright!" Her younger sister nodded as the two sent their essence into their individual weapons.

"Guardian Finishers!"

"Star striker!"

"Stage show!"

"Engage!" Lynn tossed her star into the air, watching the black rough edged star break into four pieces and fly right for her male counterpart. Luna sent out several sonic waves that engulfed the star pieces. They watched the Xeran-human hybrid throw both of his giant knuckles forward, crashing them into the four star pieces. The Louds' combined power seemed enough as his knuckles shattered into small shards, in a gulf of electrical smoke.

"Grah! My weapons!" Lyn's hands were aching. His fighting capabilities were weakened.

"Here we go! Stage slide!" Luna went dashing for him, sliding on her knees and heading straight for him.

"Guitar spin!" Guardian Purple put all her force behind the swing, watching her guitar whirl with a purple aura behind it. She slid past him, leaning back to dodge a punch, and she sliced right through Xerardian Black's stomach, leaving a large wide open wound. Lynn ran up and punched her counterpart in the face to temporarily daze him. She then grabbed the open wound and tore it wide open. They watched the Xeran-human hybrids body begin to expel essence in desperate attempts to heal. He was surrounded on both sides with a giant injury, and no weapons to fight back with.

"Ready to give up now?!" Lynn grinned. It looked rather eerie to see that toothy smile underneath the fragments of her destroyed helmet. Luna was panting, her lower backs injury keeping her from standing back up, but she was glad to have won this battle. It meant they could help their family members sooner.

"Give up…? Argh… you guardians are really something. I'm glad you forced me into this position. Now I can use my siblings' gifts," Lyn presented two essence spheres in his hand. One was swirling with the majesty's essence and red rage. The other had the same dark purple essence with a calming blue whirling combined with it.

"More hearts? What good's that going to do you? You Xeran are pathetic for trying to cling onto every last second of a fight," Luna commented, as they watched him throw the red essence sphere in the air, and then catch it in his mouth before swallowing it whole. He put the other one away.

"Siblings' gifts? Wait... does that mean they can combine, too?!" Lynn was shocked. She watched as her male doppelgangers chest began to glow bright red. His Xerardian suit and body nearly fully healed in a matter of seconds. Flames then began to engulf him.

"Let's! Xeran Henshin!" Lyn cackled as his monstrous suit became bright black with red trimming at the ends, yellow cracks breaking down the middle like the destroyed earth beneath them into an X shape over both shoulders and his chest. His helmet's damage repaired instantly, and his body's suit quickly gained the disturbingly scaly appearance. His helmet gaining a longer shape to it as the visor was covered in fangs.

"Xerardian Dragon mode! Destroyer of the determination that drives all life," Lyn gained his large knuckles back, but now they had very sharp claws at the end. "Eat this!"

Lyn breathed out a wave of fire that Guardian Black had to block, the searing heat biting at her hands' nerves. Luna slashed Xerardian Black across the back with her star guitar that made him stop the fire breathing, but the electrical smoke was far from signifying how much actual damage he was taking. Lyn turned around, grabbing Luna by the throat and raising her high in the air as he grabbed her legs, before slamming her back first onto his knee. He had specifically aimed for her weak point. Upon contact, Luna felt her entire body freeze and writhe in pain. Lyn let her fall onto the ground, as he knew that attacking a critical wound on Luna was enough to force her out of her morphed form and back to normal.

"Luna! Get up!" Lynn called for her older sister lying on the floor. Without her guardian suit, Luna was doing nothing more than letting her essence bleed from her body. Luna barely twitched in reply, she was long gone into near unconsciousness. The auburn haired girl made a charge for her clone in an attempt to save her sibling.

"Xerardian finisher! Dragons Domination! Engage," Lyn grinned. His spiked knuckles began to catch ablaze as he sidestepped Lynn's attack. Guardian Black was hit directly in the chest, an explosion of smoke erupting from it. She got hit in the head, shattering her helmet completely to pieces, the fragments falling onto the ground like rain drops, shortly followed by blood after. Lynn's face bled as she collapsed on the ground, coughing out two of her own teeth.

"Looks like I win," Xerardian Black spoke. Lynn, now back to her normal form, felt some essence escape her body. She could not get up or move. She had a few tears escaping her eyes. She reached a hand out toward Luna, dreading that it may be the last time she could see her family. Lynn screamed as her male counterpart stomped on her hand, crushing her palm and knuckles into the ground under his boot. Guardian Black's essence was sprayed out in a steadily increasing rate.

"Yes! Finally, now that I've reduced these so-called guardians into harmless ladybugs, I can enjoy the taste of this essence! And it's all mine!" Lyn declared his personal victory as the two guardians laid around him, no longer able to fight. Their essence was now being absorbed into his body. His Xerardian mode ended as he began to change into his Xeran monstrous form. His body steadily turned to one composed of grey, high carat diamond, shaped as rocky and jagged, his large fists becoming shiny first before the rest of his body. The new form of Lyn stood as externally powerful as a mighty diamond golem.

"My full power…! The majesty stands no chance once we all reach the limits of our true strength!" the Xeran-human hybrid flexed. Luna and Lynn were confused by his ramblings. They believed he was working for the majesty. It made them wonder if there was a betrayal being planned. Lynn was stomped in the stomach and kicked in the face, knocking her unconscious and putting her onto her back. Her male doppelganger picked her up off the floor and draped her over his shoulder.

"Put her down…!" Luna was standing again. The diamond monster was surprised, but it was clear she was too weak to do anything but stand. Getting off the floor stopped anymore of her essence from escaping her body further.

"After all you two did to me? Forget it! I'm taking her to my dimension. I'm never going to let this great essence go," Lyn grinned. Just like his younger sister, he planned on turning the sporty loud into an essence dispenser, sacrificing weaker people's essences to get guardian essence from it.

"No! You can't do this!" Luna cried out. She tried to force her body to move to help her sister, and yet it seemed to refuse to move from how weak it had been rendered to. The Xeran-human hybrid shook his head. A portal opening beneath his feet as he began to sink away, down into the eldritch realm with Guardian Black.

"Until we meet again," Lyn left on that note. Luna felt sick. She had to watch as her little sister was taken before her very eyes. All of this had been broadcasted live to the world for all to see. The portal closed immediately.

"Lynn…! I'm sorry!" Luna held her head and choked out a sob. Not only did she allow Lincoln's love to get kidnapped, but witnessed one of her own sisters be beaten down and taken against her will. It would be emotionally grating alone to even confess such failure. She looked to the frozen door of the room in then building anger. She had to escape from here, alive.

"But first, I've got to help everyone else!"


	107. Slaughtered

**Authors Note: Hello all, I wanted to just quickly thank everyone. For my fic now has 60,000 views! I appreciate it again, and am trying harder to make sure the ending will be great. Please take care and enjoy!**

"Just keep the pressure on him!" Lori commanded.

"I'm trying!" Leni ducked under a sharp wave of dark blue energy that flew by her. She and Lori were face-to-face against Loki. All they could do now was attack any openings he gave them, though they were very few and far between. Loki even had his own scatter move, which he had just used against Leni.

"Dual mode! Engage!" her blaster called out and split into two smaller laser pistols. Guardian White stood up, took aim and began to let out a rapid volley of blasts. Xerardian Blue began to slash them out of the air, knocking a few right back at her. Leni spun around, bouncing a few shots aside knocking them into the walls harmlessly with her cape, and in turn not let up on the triggers.

"Don't stop, no matter what!" Lori hopped over a piece of destroyed rubble and charged for her male doppelganger. Her sword glowed bright blue, and she landed a quick slash on the unguarded hybrid, digging her blade into his shoulder.

"Garrgh! You're a lot more aggressive than I expected!" Loki took notice of the next volley of laser bolts coming for him. Guardian Blue quickly slashed him across his chest and bashed his sword arm up to break his guard. She threw herself on the ground, watching as Loki was pelted by the laser bullets, smoke bursting off of him from the attacks.

"Of course we are! Because of you guys, we don't have a lot go home to after this!" Lori ran her fingers along her blade, watching it glow orange. Leni felt bad for her older sister. They would not be able to go home unless they wanted to face the wrath of their heavily affected family, they did not even know if everyone was safe yet.

"Lori! Watch out!" Guardian White noticed Xerardian Blue's other arm glow. Lori felt a sharp pain ring out her right arm. It was impaled by a second blade that her male clone had formed in seconds.

"What? You think I'm stupid enough to go all out straight from the get go? Teronzata taught me to catch your opponent every time they're off guard," Loki laughed. His female half tried her best not to let out a cry of pain. She knew he wanted to hear them scream in agony or beg for mercy. Her arm was now bleeding relentlessly. She grabbed the sword with her other hand.

"Quit talking about Teronzata like you knew him! And I mean the real him!" Lori swung the orange glowing blade at Loki's other sword arm.

"What the-!?" Loki gasped, watching his arm begin to rust and become brittle before starting to crack.

"Take this, you jerk!" Leni put her guns back together to form their normal blaster and fired a large beam. It hit the Xerardian Blade directly, it was powerful enough to break the sword arm into fragments. Lori then forcibly took her blade with her other hand and smack it onto her male half's last sword arm, breaking it instantly and simultaneously freeing her from the impaling.

"Grah! How can you have so much strength in your non-dominant arm?!" Loki was slightly impressed. Lori was trying to stop the bleeding, her sister coming up beside her and placing her blaster near her injury.

"Low setting," Leni pulled the trigger. Guardian Blue had to grit her teeth as the laser forcibly cauterized the injury closed. It was the only way to stop the open wound from bleeding ounces. She would need medical help for the injury to her bone later, once this all blew over.

"I think we won, Lori! You did it! And with your bad hand, too," Guardian White complimented.

"I don't have a good hand. They're both bad," Lori shook her head. They looked to Loki, whose sword arms were both broken to shards. Only the hybrid himself was left.

"Man… Someone who can use both hands for one sword is annoying," Loki shook his head, reverting one of his broken sword arms back to normal and pulling out an essence sphere from his pocket. It swirled with his siblings' black essence, and the majesty's as well.

"What's that going to do for you?" Leni took aim. Loki had a toothy grin underneath his helmet.

"It's one of my siblings' gifts. I'm going to put it to use to kill you, guardian white. So then I can get the essence from blue all to myself!" Loki tossed the essence sphere in the air, his helmet and mouth opening wide to catch it. Lori, however, would have none of it. She angrily charged up to him right when he swallowed, before she dug her foot into the ground and delivered a mighty strong punch directly into his throat. Her knuckles hurt from the impact alone. Leni cringed when she heard a shatter. Lori's male counterpart fell onto his back, coughing.

"Oh gosh, Lori… Did you kill him?" Guardian White shivered. Loki was on his hands and knees as he morphed out of his Xerardian mode, his mask falling off his face. The blonde boy was coughing up fragments of the majesty's heart and black essence, spitting out some of his own blood from his throat.

"I don't think so, but whatever. Let's finish him… off…?" Guardian Blue felt a rumble, looking up to see dust from the ceiling shaking. Leni noticed a few stray strands of electrical jolts. She knew what was about to happen. She grabbed Lori and pulled her away, they watched as the roof suddenly caved in on top of Loki and buried him underneath the debris. A giant layer of dust burst from the destruction.

"I'm here Lame-oooh…?" the morphed and confused Ronnie Anne stood on top of the rubble. She had busted through the ceiling when looking for Lincoln to try and save him. She instead saw Guardians Blue and White standing there in a state of surprise.

"Good timing, Ronnie Anne," Leni happily gave a small wave.

"You two okay?" Ronnie Anne hopped off from the rubble.

"Yeah, but come on, we need to finish off Loki before he gets away," Lori then ran past the two, the others going to help her with moving the rubble aside to find the monstrous hybrid. It took a short time to move the debris, but they did manage to get it all aside.

"Uh… you guys… I think he's gone," Leni stated. Loki had seemingly escaped to the eldritch realm in retreat when the rubble caved in on top of him.

"Oh, great!" Lori kicked the side of one of the big rocks, frustrated, "Now what…?"

"Do you know where the others are?" Leni wondered to Ronnie Anne. She was specifically worried for the rest of her family's safety and wellbeing.

"I was hoping you would. I just put an end to Mirayu on my part," Ronnie Anne sighed, "We have some things to talk about when things get safe, Leni."

"Righty-o," Leni nodded in reply. Lori got the door of the room open, and the three stepped outside where they could hear heavy footsteps. They were about to instinctively attack the direction the noise came from.

"Guys… are you okay?" Luna was there, leaning against one of the walls, trying her best to stay up. She had burnt up the last of her energy breaking out of the room she had fought in.

"Luna! Oh gosh, are you alright?!" Leni rushed straight over and helped her stay standing, before she almost collapsed.

"What happened to you?" Lori asked. Ronnie Anne was looking around. This television studio had been altered to be a combined maze and trap, and a terrible outcome planned with it.

"One of those stupid clones trapped me and Lynn in a room… I thought we were going to win, but then he evolved and beat us down… they took Lynn!" Luna tried not to break down, feeling like a complete failure was constantly ravaging away at the back of her mind.

"Took her? Where?!" Lori demanded. She had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew exactly where.

"To their world… I couldn't do anything…" Guardian Purple mumbled. Leni had no clue what to say. Lori looked upset for letting this happen, all because they were separated and led to this dangerous situation where they were taking casualties.

"Look… I know it's real bad what happened to Lynn, but if we don't find Lincoln, then they'll probably do the same thing to him," Ronnie Anne tried to focus everyone back on the main goal.

"Ronnie Anne's right… Lori, you and Luna wait outside for us," Leni ordered, their eldest sister turning to her.

"What? No way! I'm going with you!" Lori persisted, despite her own personal injuries that made it hurt to even swing her own blade.

"I can help Lincy. You got the worst of it back there. You'd better help Luna, since she doesn't look good…" Guardian White responded. Luna had visibly lost a lot of essence. They did not really know how close she was to the verge of risking her heart stopping. Lori bit her lip, but she reluctantly nodded. With Mirayu gone, the building was safer.

"Let's go already!" Guardian Gold ran off the opposite direction with Leni in tow. Lori let Luna lean against her as the two began to leave to try and find the exit outside. Lori intended to call the general immediately for help once she was able to get them both back out in the open.

* * *

"Come on! You can't just keep hiding behind that tiny gauntlet forever!" Linka fired a wave of fire out from her other hand. Lincoln kept up his guard as the flames engulfed him. Guardian Red had barely been given any chance to counter attack.

"Since when was I hiding?" Guardian Red watched the fire spew from the back of his pulled back gauntlet that rocketed him forward. He cut right through Xerardian Red's flames and stabbed her in the chest, causing an explosion of sparks to blast off of her while knocking her back.

"How do you always have so many stupid tricks up your sleeve?! You're like a Xeran monster!" Linka stood up, beginning to pour her essence into her monstrous set of claws, "Xerardian finisher… essence reaver!"

"Let's try something new then… Dual mode! Engage!" Guardian Red watched his gauntlet separate into two, the other latching onto his second hand securely. He drained part of his red essence into both of them.

"Guardian Finisher! Lion's duel! Engage!" Lincoln watched both of his claws ignite. He had to thank Lisa for all the alternative styles these guardian suits could bring. He charged at his female doppelganger as she slashed forward, their claws colliding as they began to push each other, both desperate to get the upper hand. Linka's patience was wearing thin.

"Just go down already! It's only a matter of time before you run out of essence! I can outlast you by hours now that I have more in me!" the Xeran-human hybrid broke his guard and gave one harsh slice across his chest, watching small flames explode off of his guardian suit.

"So what? That's because you turn everything you have into hate, anger, is that really all you run on? How pathetic!" Lincoln ducked under the next swing of her demonic claws like a boxer, and he gave a hard left hook to her side, his flaming claws digging into her. He then spun around and kicked his female doppelganger in the face, forcing her to stumble. Lincoln then jumped up and brought both claws downward, slicing Linka from head to toe resulting in more electrical smoke to begin blasting off of her, she withstood the pain however.

"You're calling me pathetic? You're some baby who is afraid of their true form, someone who is afraid to let the essence take control! You'll see who the real pathetic one is after I take you for my own essence supply! You're facing the new Xeran leader! All I have to do is kill the majesty! Then I can take over!" Xerardian Red began to run her claws along the ground and rushed right for him. Lincoln put up his guard. However, his clone opened up a portal in front of her and vanished.

"What? Hey! Don't run away now!" Lincoln let his guard down. Another portal opened up behind him, and Linka jumped out from it, catching him by surprise. When he turned around, she thrust downward to avoid his guard. Lincoln felt a sharp pain in his left leg. It was pierced from front to back. Linka punched him in the face while ripping out her blade from his leg, before proceeding to stab him in the stomach. He hunched over in pain, feeling the long claws tearing through his insides as blood spilled out from his mouth and wounds, pouring onto the floor.

"Who's pathetic now?" Linka withdrew her claws and slashed his chest. That last burst of electrical smoke from the attack knocked him flat onto his back. Guardian Red was forcibly morphed back to normal as his gauntlet returned to its regular state.

"Guh… gack…" Lincoln coughed as a small pool of blood began to form around him. He began to lose his essence. The markings in the room finally took over, now that he was too injured to fight back. Linka exhaled in relief as she held her arms out far and began to absorb every last drop of essence he lost.

"Ohh, yes…! Finally! I've been waiting so long for this!" Linka's body began to shape shift into a flaming body, with a demonic set of horns on her head and long red flames for hair. The clothing resembled boiling magma. Her colors began to change to bright white. She grew taller, and with her growth the flames on her body grew in intensity as well.

"No…" Lincoln could only watch in horror. The evolved Linka looked gleeful with her new, true form. Lincoln laid his head back, looking at one of the cameras focused on him. Though he tried to suppress his true agony, he could feel everything slowly going black around him.

"What the-!?" Linka heard the door break open, and she turned around to its direction.

"Lincoln!" Guardian Gold and Guardian White were both terrified by the scene before them. They could not even twitch as the large white flaming monster then grabbed him by the throat, hoisted him off the ground and put him in front of her as a personal shield.

"Ah, ah, ah! One step closer, and he dies! …Well, I guess that doesn't matter since he's already dying, but we all want him alive right?" Linka giggled. Leni could see her vision blur by the swelling tears, seeing here brother in this horrible state was upsetting.

"K… Kill her! If you don't, she'll get stronger…" Lincoln tried to call out to his best friend and older sister, but they were too afraid to call the bluff, they knew how crazy Linka was for Guardian essence.

"I can save his life, but you have to let me leave with him. Or, I'll just have to rip his intestines out, right here on camera for the world to see," Linka dug one of her hands into Lincoln's open wounds. He let out a scream of agony, feeling the burning pain inside his body. Hearing his howls of agony was enough to force the two to surrender.

"Alright… alright! Just please, don't let him die!" Leni dropped her blaster on the ground and morphed back to normal. The Xeran-human hybrid grinned as she took in a deep breath, and blew a blast of hot white fire at her enemy.

"Leni! Watch out!" Ronnie Anne got in front of Leni, taking the hit directly to her back.

"Ronnie Anne!" Leni gasped, her ears pierced by her seared cohort's cries. When the torrent of fire ended, she fell onto her knees in unbearable pain. Her guardian suit had only protected her so little. Her arms pain were the least of her mind's focus now. Leni crouched down as Guardian Gold morphed back to normal to make sure she was alright. When she looked into the room, nothing was there. Now Lincoln was gone. Linka had escorted him straight to the eldritch dimension that the Xeran inhabited.

"Lincoln… I'm sorry…" Leni cursed, "We'll save you and Lynn from… from that… that… that bitch…!"


	108. The Majesty's Awakening

Lynn was seated with her back leaned against the wall, in a dark grim prison cell. Shackles locked both of her wrists, and they had the odd tribal marks engraved on their metal texture. The doppelgangers could use those shackles to steal their essence. Her hair was loose; when her clone had roughed her up, her hair band broke. Now her brown hair was dangling carelessly behind her, reaching midway down her back in length now.

"Lincoln…? Will you please say something?" Guardian Black spoke to Lincoln. He was seated upsettingly across from her, his eyes still shut tight while he was against the wall. The shackles he bared strapped to his wrists and ankles looked a lot thicker. Lynn had been emotionally degrading more and more each passing day. They had been in this eldritch realm for barely three days, according to the crazy inmate a few cells down. Lincoln would fall into this tired trance where it seemed like he would zone out for indefinite periods of time. They both had their guardian gear forcibly taken from them to an unknown part of the castle.

"…something," Lincoln replied with a light smirk. He received a gentle punch to the shoulder. Their company was their only means to stay sane in this place, but Guardian Red was still so gravely wounded that it took an entire day for his injuries to be treated. Even after the surgery from the skeletal doctors, Linka's burning hot fist still seemed to have left its mark in his guts. He still felt it like the pain was fresh in his mind.

"Lori went through all this, and the only reason we saved her was thanks to BelGaner being a fair man… but I don't think he can help us or will," Lynn declared, seated beside her love. Lincoln looked to his sisterly girlfriend, reached over and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"Leni, Luna and Lori will save us, don't worry… I love you, Lynn," Lincoln told her, trying to raise her lowered morale. Their clones would come to take their essence and then leave their weakened bodies to convert more overtime, it was a torturous daily routine.

"I love you too, Lincoln… It's hard to think about what our future looks like from here… even if we do get out, we can't go home," Lynn rested her head on his shoulder. Lincoln rubbed her back in reassurance and exchanging a gentle kiss with her.

"We'd have to tell everyone about our guardian duties eventually. I guess Lisa would say that it was ridiculous to think we can just keep it all secret forever," Lincoln responded, but his sisterly girlfriend was right. They never thought about the future after this war between the Xeran ended. It had been maybe a couple of months since it started, and he feared so much that it would be endless. He could safely assume the reason nobody thought about the future after the war, was perhaps because the war would not end like they desired.

"I wish we could've done it our own way, instead of being forced into it by those dumb clones," Lynn added. Imagining all of their violent injuries being broadcasted live on television, in a attempt to demoralize humanity was simply horrible to think about.

"I know what I plan to do once we're done. But let me just tell you, Lynn. I promise that the next time we're free from this prison is when this war ends, and once it's over I'll tell everyone about us," Lincoln continued trying to inject hope and optimism into the atmosphere. He was losing his care for secrecy at this moment. He hated to imagine that the only reason that their relationship did so well thus far was the excitement of it being abnormal. All the same, he had an obvious idea that he wished to put to motion post-war. Something that he needed to discuss with the other Guardians and Lisa beforehand.

"Lincoln, you're the sweetest boyfriend anyone could ask for," Lynn smiled. However, she had to wonder about Guardian Red's anger. She had no idea if it was in check. She hated to imagine how fast it was building from imagining their families watching their kidnappings and near murders live. Each day that passed, it seemed the hybrid Linka was garnering more essence each visit, more than the prior one. Lynn was beginning to get worried that Lincoln now had become an embodiment of hate and anger. Lincoln was fearful of becoming this kind of being, and Lynn was afraid that he might explode if his red essence was not drained one day. She believed that this was what these trances derived from, either him trying to control it, or his essence trying to control him.

"Are you two done kissing yet?" Loki's voice made the two turn to him. The hybrid stood on the other side of their bars. They were both surprised to see him. They had no idea what he was here for, since as far as they knew, the mutant was after Lori, but his attempt get a single drop of her essence ended in shambles.

"Are you done being ugly yet?" Lincoln retorted, seeing a nasty scowl from the clone. They watched him as he unlocked the prison cell, opening the door. He took one step inside.

"I'm going to take your essence. So don't make this harder for yourselves," Loki said. The two Louds just glared at him. Before the Xeran-human hybrid could make a single move toward them, they saw a wave of white fire hit him in the back, causing him to scream in pain. When the flames died out and he turned around, he was greeted by a punch to the face that dazed him. Loki was then yanked out of the prison cell and thrown to the ground. Lincoln and Lynn were surprised to see Linka and Lyn.

"Sorry, but YOU are going to take the essence that belongs to US? I don't think so, bro!" Linka stated. A few textoth informed them that their oldest sibling was coming into the prison for unexplained reasons, and they caught onto his plan in seconds.

"You won't be able to evolve without your clone's essence. I know how good it feels to have guardian essence in you, though so I don't blame you for being jealous," Lyn commented with that smug look on his face. Guardian Red and Guardian Black were about to make an attempt to escape, but the prison door was slammed shut right in their faces. Xerardian Blue did not provide too much of a distraction.

"Hey! That's no way to treat your family members!" Lynn shouted.

"Family isn't supposed to be going around stabbing each other in the back! They're supposed to care for each other, no matter how bad a member messes up," Lincoln added to his siblings call out, neither of them knew why they were saying these things, the clones were their nemesis's after all. But seeing family fighting like this, it was something their bodies could not ignore and instinctively spoke on their own without thinking.

"We're not family, we just say that kind of stuff to screw with you. We're superior clones of you, and we are just three. BelGaner had no intention of cloning the rest of your sniveling family members," Lyn replied bitterly. The clones alone were strong enough to beat their oldest hybrid sibling into submission.

"And I don't think those without any power, or ability to walk without a cane, have any position to speak," Linka responded to the guardians. Lincoln unfortunately had a chunk of his leg damaged beyond recovery. If the translation from his female clone was accurate from the medical textoth, he would need some form of support to walk.

"Soon, we'll be the rulers of the Xeran race. BelGaner is going to awaken the majesty soon, and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to hear we have two guardians captured… happy enough to lower his guard for us to slay him, or maybe we'll cut to the chase and do it while he awakens," the two Xeran-human hybrids began to laugh. They grabbed Loki's limbs and began to drag him away, to take him out of the prison.

"I can't tell what's worse. Their plans for the majesty or their plans for us," Lincoln plopped back onto the ground, holding his sore leg. He could walk for a limited amount of time, but inevitably his damaged muscles would give out forcing him to the ground.

"Wait… I think I just got an idea, Lincoln!" Lynn declared. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow while looking to her. He doubted this would be good, but their words did bother the Xeran-human hybrids. Whatever plan or idea she got from that was worth listening to.

* * *

In the throne room where the majesty slumbered, BelGaner stood in front of the comet that had all the essence they had gathered inside of it. Shedun and Zeggfor stood in front of the textoth full room. They were all ready and waiting.

"Your majesty… our times have gone rough. Two generals have died for your cause, and there is mistrust amongst the generals and even our most loyal of men… please hear my words, and accept the essence from the world that we have gathered. Allow your bonds to open and accept your true power. The Xeran needs their leader," BelGaner gave his speech as they watched the majesty's slumbering body glow slightly. Several blue and orange tentacles began to emerge from his sides and back, going for the meteor and beginning to dig into it.

"I see you've gained your memory back… Haven't you, Zeggfor?" Shedun whispered. Lately the general of offense had been acting so odd. This could be a sign that his memories were restored, the diamond shield wielding general did not know whether it was good or bad.

"Yes… I hope the majesty will answer my questions once he is back to full health…" Zeggfor murmured as they watched the meteor hover up to the majesty. His golden chest plate lifted up and pulled it into his bright ethereal boy, and then closed. He began to glow bright. The dark essence began surrounding his body, with the inside coated with the other essences of all they had decimated.

"Arise, majesty! Show us your ultimate form! Lead the Xeran to the end of our most challenging war! And then after, lead us to our bright futures!" BelGaner preached. The textoth began to cheer in their weird language of chattering and skrees.

" **This fool isn't fit to lead a single ant!** "

One of the large throne room doors flew across the room and hit the majesty's slowly rising body, breaking into several pieces and sending up a cloud of dust.

"What?!" the three generals turned. The evolved monstrous forms of Linka and Lyn approached. Several textoth tried to attack them, but the diamond Lyn smashed them all away in a single swipe. Then his sister fired a wave of white fire at the majesty's body through the dust.

"My… this is quite anarchic…" BelGaner spoke behind his metallic mask.

"What are you two fools doing!?" Zeggfor stepped up, his rage rising rapidly.

"We're taking over! The majesty has been unable to help us at all! He's a worthless fool who deserves nothing but to be turned to dust," Linka crafted a large fire ball in her hands and threw it straight ahead. Shedun got in front of the majesty, catching the attack with his shield. It nearly knocked him off his feet, but the prison general mustered his strength and knocked the white blazing ball to the side, where it blasted apart a wall.

"You beasts already killed Mirayu and used her like a tool!" Shedun exclaimed, "Teronzata died for nothing! You've slaughtered so many textoth without remorse! You're unfit to lead anybody! All you care for is yourselves and nobody else!"

"BelGaner, draw your weapon and aid us!" Zeggfor demanded, but then felt a strong overwhelming atmosphere fill the room. It was like the air itself was poisoned. Everyone began to have trouble breathing. The textoth all began to cry out as several began to be pierced by the many blue and orange strands of the majesty, and then instantly become dust. For each textoth slaughtered, their essence was absorbed. They watched the strands retract to the dust cloud.

"There is no reason for me to raise my arms. Our loyalty has finally led to the strongest Xeran to exist today," BelGaner bowed and took a few steps to the side. The rubble and dust was blasted aside, there stood the newly formed majesty. His armor was in ruins. There now stood a brightly glowing being made out of dark essence, transparent and housing all the other essences of emotions flowing in his dark body, almost looking cosmic.

" _ **Thank you for being loyal, my generals…**_ " the majesty stepped onto the ground, picked up his crown and put it on his head. His eyes glowed two different colors. He was now purely an ethereal being.

"Your majesty?" Zeggfor and Shedun stepped aside. Linka and Lyn did not take seriously this new body the Xeran race's leader had.

"Let's get him!" Linka's battle cry rang out. But then she and Lyn both felt sharp pains shoot through their bodies. They both had large blades impaling them and forcing them to stay in place.

"Wh-what? Who…?" Lyn muttered. He and Linka could see by looking over their shoulders. Loki stood there in his Xerardian mode. He had stabbed them both through the back. "Loki?! Why would you…"

"Shut up. I'm too weak to beat you both, right? So I'll serve the one who deserves to be king. Isn't that right, your majesty?" Loki spoke, in a tone that expressed how he was mentally and emotionally shattered, stemming from when they kept bullying him for every little mistake. They watched the majesty raise one of his hands. Several strands fired from his wrist, going for the Xeran-human hybrids.

"No wait! This-this is a misunderst- **AAAGGGGHHHHH**!"


	109. A Guardians Limits?

In an eastern part of Royal Woods, a plethora of soldiers were gathered. Hundreds of textoth had started blindly attacking people. With Lincoln and Lynn still nowhere to be found on this Earth, Leni, Luna and Lori had to participate in this battle as a group of three. Ronnie Anne was at the outpost, helping Lisa and Larixxa.

"Eek!" Leni was struck across the back, causing a small eruption of sparks to blast off of her. The textoth that tried to continue its assault was blasted away by a trio of soldiers gunfire.

"Are you alright, white?" a soldier helped her up. She then shot another five textoth away with her laser blaster.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot," she was relieved to know that the soldiers were able to be of better use. Lisa had found a method to make ammunition out of gruynithil. According to her, it had increased the military's efficiency by three times.

"Turning Magma Scatter Slash!" Lori spun around in a full circle with a long slash of her blade, sending out a circular wave of blazing red sharp energy that eviscerated the mob of textoth around her. She watched as the sword glowed light blue. She quickly began to slash away at each one.

"The Xeran have to have some kind of plan behind this! Just eliminate them all and see if there's an elite around!" Lisa spoke over the communicator. Luna grit her teeth while catching several blades at once with her guitar. It took all of her strength to make sure she was not eviscerated by all the swords at once.

"Guitar spin!" Guardian Purple quickly gave a hard spin, knocking up the blades. She then gave one sharp slash with her axe's sonic waves, killing the several textoth in one fell swoop.

"Guardian finisher! Funky brawl engage!" Leni threw up her white eight-tipped star and blasted it with the last charge of her laser blaster, watching it shoot out dozens of laser beams. Everyone immediately took cover as the textoth were hit by the guardian finisher, the mob bested in seconds. The dump of smoky dust was all that was left.

"Whew… Finally, they're dead," the relived Luna morphed back to normal.

"Wa-wait, Luna! Morph back into your guardian mode! We still have to find an elite!" Leni warned, her guard not lowered. The communicator's speaker emitted an anger induced pound of a fist.

"Forget it, Leni! Radar says that there is nothing! The same protocol as before. You three withdraw to the outpost. The scientists and I almost have everything prepared," the irritated Lisa switched the communications off. Leni and Lori morphed out of their guardian modes, watching the soldiers begin to take rounds to see the damage to their platoon or the extent of the harm in the area.

"They're sending out so many textoth, and now they aren't even holding back. They're attacking everything!" Guardian White spoke through her hyperventilated breath, "They're attacking children, adults, animals, even babies! How can we save every last one if… if…!"

"It'll be fine, Leni, calm down…" Lori tried to calm her younger sister down, they were in a bad position, unable to go home and constantly harassed by their family. They had been hunting them down, practically. Their cellphones were even jammed full of voice messages and texts, all from their family trying to get their attention.

"It won't be! Textoth are reported appearing in other parts of the world now. General Eugene and the media says so... The government's trying their best, and Lisa's being pressured by every person high in power to make more guardian suits, but she can't, because we need all the essence spheres we can get to go try and save Lincoln and Lynn," Luna rummaged around through her pockets and pulled out a small pack of cigarettes. Her two older sisters stared at her wide eyed. "The Xeran aren't sending out elites anymore, because they don't need to. It's the end of the world, and we've got front row tickets to trying to delay the apocalypse."

Luna tilted her head back, looking at the clear sky. It had not rained for a whole near month now. Maybe it was some joke of an omen, the drought matching their dwindling hopes.

"Luna! How can you say that?! Think about the future! This isn't the end… not even close!" Leni responded. Luna pulled out a lighter, but before she could light the cigarette, Lori yanked the lighter from her hand and the pack from her other.

"Why are you doing this? Are you suddenly willing to just give up?" Guardian Blue asked, angered. Everyone in the family would have verbally slaughtered Luna for even considering smoking, and tell her what she already knew, that it was not good for her self-valued vocal chords.

"No! It's just… things just have gotten so hard…" Luna sniffed, "I was able to keep the stress away whenever we could go home, to see everyone happy... But now we can't go home. Everybody's mad at us. What if they have the guts to demoralize us for our actions? We don't even have Lincoln's optimism anymore. Now that we're all exposed, there isn't looking to be much of a future…For our family, or the world..."

Lori dropped the pack of cigarettes on the ground and stomped them out. She then went up to her younger sister and smacked her, knocking her onto her back with a bright red bruise on her cheek. It stung worse than a dozen bee stings.

"Stop this! You're a guardian! Giving up isn't something you can do! Lincoln would be upset to see you like this, and Lynn would be trying to wrestle you to cheer you up! What is your future, Luna?!"

"T…to be the most famous rock star in the world! To get better and… maybe get to make a song with Mick Swagger…" Luna murmured, her voice becoming sheepish toward the end. Her merely thinking about the idol that inspired her to start her musical career made her feel a lot better.

"And guess what? You already got the hardest part of that future dream done! Before anyone even knew you were a guardian, you started to become popular. You were playing concert after concert, and giving every one of your fans the spirit they needed. No matter how viral the news is, your fans know you as just Luna Loud, the music maker," after Lori finished her speech, she had to take deep breaths to calm down. She took a seat on the sidewalk, Leni sitting beside her. Luna forced herself back up after the minor outburst from her sister, the soldiers trying their best to not make the staring too blatantly obvious.

"…Thanks, Lori… I needed that," Luna spat the cigarette out of her mouth, letting it roll off onto the road, before she gave a smile. Guardian Blue chucked the lighter to a passing soldier.

"Thanks, ma'am!" the passing soldier waved while continuing off.

"I need to make up for a lot of things. I had to battle my selfishness and my lack of care. There's so much wrong with me, I feel worse since that only changed because I had my life yanked away nearly by a swordsman made of vines. Yet I'm glad that monster got involved in my life. He made me see the error of my past ways," Lori exhaled while looking to her feet, not able to bring her eyes off the ground. She felt as emotionally and physically exhausted as her sisters.

"What about your future? What do you want, Lori?" Luna decided to ask in a calm manner to try and ease things out. Talking about the future was a nice way to get their minds off of it.

"…I just want to help people. The same answer Lincoln would give, I guess. I don't know what Lynn would say… but I'd like to get married to bobby, too… if he still wants me…" Lori answered. She and Ronnie Anne had been too afraid to answer his calls or texts right now.

"Of course he will. Maybe things aren't as bad as we think at home? Maybe it's dumb that we're thinking of the worst?" Leni suggested. The others wondered how the one with the lowest IQ made the most sense.

"Maybe… What about you, Leni? What about your future?" Lori questioned.

"Huh? Oh… Well, Ronnie Anne told me that Larixxa's parents are dead. That means I'm the only one able to take care of her. I guess I wanna be a good mom… the mom that she barely had… Though I always wanted to explore the world more, too," Leni exclaimed. Learning that Mirayu was the mother to Larixxa was a devastating thing to discover. It meant that this poor child had no one but Leni herself to fill in that role. From there, silence took over.

"I'd give anything…" Luna mused, "Anything to have things go back to normal…Heck, I'd give all my essence even."

The group suddenly felt a spark in their brains, and they turned to each other.

"We need to talk to Lisa!"

The group got up and back to the outpost like they had been ordered to do, leaving the soldiers with the job of surveying the area.

"We'll save you, Lincoln and Lynn! And then we'll end this war!"


	110. Family Reunion

The early afternoon had set in over Royal Woods. The entire world was viral about the Xeran, and several planned methods to fend them off, mainly textoth and many announcements about safety vaults that were reportedly impenetrable. Ronnie Anne saw this on the news, each and every hour, and it made her irritated as time went by. She was seated watching the newswoman on screen reporting about the same thing as the last twenty channels she watched.

"…and with that, Vault 101 is now essentially completed! The address will be displayed as follows! Please head here in a code red emergency situation," the reporter had finished talking about a special vault that had gotten odd blue jumpsuits with the same number on their backs. Guardian Gold grumbled, picking up the nearby remote and chucking it at the television, watching it bounce off harmlessly and turn it off at the same time.

"Please don't get worked up, Auntie Anne… it makes your essence not as pretty," Larixxa spoke up. Ronnie Anne exhaled in minor irritation. The orange haired child now had a simple green dress that Leni had made herself. The two were in a room that had a large device in the center, but the platform for it was being covered a pattern of all too familiar tribal marks, exactly like the ones the Xerardians made, except all in a rainbow of pretty colors.

"Sorry… I just feel so worthless just being a paint bucket here, all because I hurt my back. I have to take it easy," Ronnie Anne apologized. That blast of fire to her lower back had done a number on her. She was determined to help if things got worse, but for now she needed to gain her energy, just as the doctors recommended. She decided to be the aid to helping finish the device to the Xeran dimension. All of the essence spheres that the guardians had gathered were in small glass cases, resting all around them.

"Your essence is so pretty," Larixxa never went too deep in conversations. When she focused on something, she stayed focused on it. She had been working in this room, painting all the tribal marks for the last four days. When she got her tools and the order, she immediately, and happily, got right to work.

"Uhhhh… Thanks, I guess?" Ronnie Anne never knew if that was a compliment on how vast her emotions were, or an insult with how out of control they were. All she knew was that she was the paint for this young artist's talent. She held her palm up, letting Larixxa draw out some essence onto her paintbrush and continue her work.

"That is preposterous! This idea is insane! It won't work!" Lisa's upset voice clamored. The two stood straight up, deciding to go see the commotion. They were nearly done with the invention to the eldritch realm anyhow. The child prodigy and the other scientists had handled the technological half of things, and they had been left to do the essence half of it.

* * *

"But Lisa, you barely even listened…" Leni whimpered sadly. She and the other guardians were with their second-youngest sister. Larixxa looked joyous to see Guardian White, going over and hugging her leg. The quickly calmed Leni greeted her adoptive daughter.

"What's happening, momma?" Larixxa worriedly asked. She and Ronnie Anne could see the furious Lisa whose hair was a complete mess and bags had long since formed under her reddened eyes.

"Judging by how bashed you guys look, there were even more textoth today?" Ronnie Anne asked. She was no longer going to sit missions out. She was recovered enough to help deal with these textoth hordes, as far as she cared.

"Yeah… there were…" Luna nodded, "But, we have an idea on how we can save Lincoln and Lynn and end this war, but Lisa won't even listen to it."

"I'm… I'm not good at this type of stuff," Leni muttered while holding Larixxa in her arms, the art loving child resting her head on her shoulder with a small smile.

"Because it is asinine! I'd sooner have General Eugene incarcerate you all before I grant permission for this, let alone aid in it!" the super genius child declared. She as not even trying to act straight faced about any of this.

"Okay, okay, everyone calm down! That goes triple for you, Lisa, especially since you haven't slept in three days," Ronnie Anne stepped up. Lisa looked to the tiled floor, depressed. She had been awake for the last three days straight, surviving off only coffee for energy, and she had been working nonstop in an effort to try and help their kidnapped guardians, her second parents. Ronnie Anne coughed after the group was silenced. "Now tell me what this idea is."

Lori presented the essence transfer device that they normally used only when needed, which was seldom. "Our essence is supposed to be stronger than most types of essences, right? That's why the Xeran are always obsessed with it. If we give up all our essence, we can make up for the essence spheres we're missing and get to the Xeran dimension."

"Wuh…?" Ronnie Anne quirked an eyebrow. The information alone stunned her. If it worked, they would be able to go there without any further hassle. She took the E.T.S, seeing it as a good idea.

"Yes, in theory, this sounds brilliant, but you're forgetting important elements! If you give up all your essence, you would be on the verge of death, and who knows how much time you would have before your heart expires! You'd be at only a fraction of your power!" Lisa explained more in depth, All of her nerves may have all been assimilated days ago from how frustrated she was.

"Most people only last thirty minutes without their essence. We'd be lucky to get double the time limit," Luna murmured, trying to go off memory of what she had learned so far.

"We can't go there with only an hour to survive! We want… no, we NEED to end this war once and for all when we save Lincoln and Lynn. It could be our only chance," Leni insisted. The room fell silent while everyone thought on it.

"We just need more essence, so we don't have to use all of ours, right?" Ronnie Anne wondered. Lisa bit her lip but nodded.

"If we had more sources of guardian essence, then yes. I could give full consent for this plan," the genius child stated. Guardian Gold put the essence transfer device down, and then turned around.

"Give me an hour. We can solve a lot of problems at once. If we're going to go fight the Xeran leader, I'd like to have as little regrets as possible before we sign our death warrants," Ronnie Anne declared as she then left the room. The Loud siblings all looked to one another in confusion. Larixxa had fallen asleep in her adoptive mothers arm's on accident. It made Leni feel a lot happier to know that things were looking up, even if Lisa despised their plan.

* * *

The next hour seemingly flew by in an instant. General Eugene was talking with a few soldiers trying to make sure everything was alright. One of the entrance guards for the building approached.

"Uh… sir. We need instructions on how to handle this situation outside," the soldier caught the half-augmented general's attention.

"What situation? Don't tell me there's a protest…" Eugene groaned, hoping that people did not start protesting against the guardians in blind hopes that if the heroes left, the Xeran also would.

"No, sir. It's… it's the guardians' families. Eight of them are outside," the soldier said. The General scratched his head, groaning. Things were pretty rough and they were at the climax of this war. He wanted to let the families in instantly, just so the guardians could have their talk. The military General was more or less following the guardians' orders, when not letting anyone in.

"You can let them in. We'll be in the medical bay since it's the biggest room," Ronnie Anne piped up from behind them with her hands in her coat pocket. The soldier saluted and headed off to escort the Loud and Santiago families inside.

"Miss Santiago, I'm guessing you're doing this without consulting the other Guardian Projects members?" Eugene Redact guessed.

"Yeah. We need their help, y'see," the golden guardian nodded with that smirk on her face, "we can also see how our bonds are and maybe say goodbye… because we all could die in this fight, knocking three things out all at once," Ronnie Anne claimed.

"That makes sense…" General Eugene nodded he understood wanting to bury any mistrust or regrets, "I'll make sure no one disturbs you in this reunion. If you need me though, just call me and to at least help let the families know how much the guardians helped out Royal Woods."

"Ehh, sure…" Guardian Gold shrugged, not caring if he came or not. All the same, they would have a bunch of soldiers listening in on them.

* * *

Lori, Luna, Lisa and Leni waited in the medical bay, since they were there being checked up by a few of the doctors. Larixxa was painting her dress with her adoptive mother's essence. Guardian White did not mind the rainbow being put on top of the green dress in an over the shoulder around the side style. It looked great in her eyes.

"Alright docs, get lost for a while," Ronnie Anne ordered as she entered the room. General Eugene had gone off to acquire something, just in case he was called in. The doctors and nurses listened followed her order and headed off to handle checking up on other patients they had in here.

"Alright, Ronnie Anne. What is occurring?" Lisa asked.

"To put it in Lincoln's stupid metaphorical terms, I guess, I was getting the shovels so we could bury the hatchet," Guardian Gold responded. Just after that was said, the door opened wide.

"Lori!"

"Leni!"

"Luna!"

"Lisa!"

"Ronnie Anne!"

The four Louds were stunned by the surprising over rush of their entire families' sudden appearance. They were soon brought into the roughest hugs they had ever endured.

"Dad? Bobby?!" Lori could only gasp when she felt her boyfriend and Lynn Sr.'s hug. The irritated Ronnie Anne could not escape her older brother's hug.

"Well, we've never done much of this prior…" Lisa could only mutter past her half-choked breath as Lana and Lola had their little sister locked in their arms.

"I didn't think I'd ever see a smile that wide on your faces," Luna laughed, gladly returning the hug just on pure instinct of her muscles alone.

"I'm so glad to see you all again…!" Leni tried to not become too emotional, but could not help herself. While being hugged with Luna, she gladly let Larixxa join Lucy Luan, Lily and Rita. Despite the joyous reunion, the absence of two more Loud members disheartened them. After everybody got settled down, the room was practically abuzz with subjects to talk about.

"Why didn't you ever come home or answer our calls?" Luan Requested, considering one of the guardians was the very phone-a-holic eldest daughter of the family.

"We thought you'd be mad. Besides, how could we come home without Lincoln or Lynn, either…?" Leni responded while Larixxa was seated beside her, holding her hand.

"Lincoln and Lynn… They're alright, right?" Lola murmured.

"Please say they're okay," Lana begged. The two twins were a lot more synced up together lately, since the ordeal began.

"They're alive. However, I doubt they are in full health," Lisa adjusted her glasses, not shying away from the honest truth.

"Well… we're not exactly mad, but we're far from happy with this," Lynn Sr. Claimed. They found themselves so split on the matters that no one really knew where they were on it.

"Why did you all keep it secret?" Lucy requested, looking to Luna whose arms were cradling a happy Lily, while Luan was sat beside her.

"We weren't all guardians at first. We just wanted to help Lincoln," the rock star Loud did not really know. Only Lincoln and Lisa did. Whether or not she told that answer was up to Lisa herself.

"I got forced into it, those days where I 'ran away'. I was actually kidnapped by one of those monsters and they turned me into one of their soldiers… but then Lincoln and Lynn saved me. That was when I decided to opt into this guardian business," Lori explained the truth. The tension of the mood was not eased up by her words, just worsened.

"Lori, Ronnie Anne, you could've trusted me with this," Bobby exclaimed, feeling upset that they did not tell him right away about the guardian jobs they had obtained.

"Bobby, you're an idiot through and through," Ronnie Anne glared at him, "You'd just get involved like an idiot would… a loving idiot at least…"

"Well…! Yeah…" the Santiago boy guessed she was not wrong. He doubted he would be able to restrain himself if he knew the two closest to him were constantly risking their lives for the greater good.

"It all started as us trying to finish the Guardian Project in honor of my deceased colleague, but then Lincoln took it upon himself to become Guardian Red and help out those under the Xeran's threat. Things plateaued from there," Lisa declared. The entire family felt an overwhelming sense of pride to know that Lincoln was brave enough to do this, and never look back.

"Our son…" Rita murmured in awe. Even the Loud parents were glad to know about it.

"As to why Lincoln wanted to be a hero and why it was kept secret… I'll let him tell you when he gets back, as a means to stay optimistic... I presume Ronnie Anne called you all here for more than just making up," Lisa commented. She knew for sure that everyone probably was upset from seeing that vicious brawl on live television. They all looked to Ronnie Anne, and she gave them all a toothy grin.

"We needed more guardian essence, right? Well, here it is."


	111. Hopes And Wishes

"Are you sure you all don't mind doing this?" Leni asked. The families were standing in the room where the complex device was set up. Lisa loaded the essence spheres into the essence transfer device, and was trying to get it set up in the central area.

"Sweetie, it doesn't matter what we think. We don't have a choice," Rita told her daughter. She swore every year that passed made Lori look more like her.

"What kind of parents would we be to let our children be taken with the world, when we can do something to help?" Lynn Sr. added. Lisa bit her lip, irritated from hearing their father talk. She assumed that it was just because she was tired, but she felt the urge to snap at him, it took a lot to restrain herself from doing such.

"Lily is the only one who can't do this, but she's cheering for you all," Lucy claimed, looking over to the nearby control room behind safety glass. General Eugene was on the other side, holding Lily in one arm. The youngest Loud had that bright smile on her face. Just that alone melted the guardians' heart's a little.

"There's no need for us to be 'babies' about this, right?" Luan grinned. Usually a Loud member would shout her name in irritation by natural reflex, but that pun actually got some laughter from the room. The comedic Loud guessed the stress was really bad. It just wasn't the same unless someone was cringing at the pun. But Luan was happy as long as they were.

"It's been anything but easy. I doubt we'll get a completely happy ending from this though… but we're going to make the best out of any situation," Luna declared. Everyone was more than aware it was a bad idea to think there would be no casualties or harm, but hopefully the worst that could be done has already been done to the victims of the worlds.

"You'll both come back safely right, Lori and Ronnie Anne?" Bobby requested. Those two were his world at this point in his life. Losing them would be the most devastating outcome for him, he doubted he could survive without them.

"We'll come back, but you know it won't be safe, Bobby," Ronnie Anne retorted while rubbing her sore arms. Lisa had already made note of the side effects of Guardian Gold not listening to direct orders. She had to treat the problem before it worsened, and was worried that it may be too late and would require constant treatment, or else Ronnie Anne would inevitably lose both limbs.

"I've always done my best, boo-boo bear," Lori gave a kiss to her beloved boyfriend. Leni was watching as Larixxa finished the last of the tribal drawing's touches, looking very happy about things. Leni decided that it they were going to leave with no regrets, then it was time she informed her parents about her newfound motherhood.

"Mom, dad, have you ever uh… wanted grandkids?" Guardian White's nervously registered question gained a lot of attention on her from everybody. The other guardians knew what she was trying to say, but her poor wording made it awkward.

"Leni… I've lost at least ten years of my life in the last week. Please tell me you're not going to go fighting pregnant," Rita pleaded, looking ready to have a heart attack. This had been one anguishing week for every one of them in every way.

"N-no no no no no no! I'm adopting Larixxa! I just wanted you to know that… She really doesn't have anyone else, so I want to know she'll be in good hands if something happens to me, too," Leni quickly explained with her hands defensively raised. Larixxa stepped up beside her adoptive mother.

"Oh… I never thought I'd be a grandfather this soon… I wish this was the most exciting thing to happen to me today, but it's good to have some great news for a change! Don't you worry, Leni. Larixxa Loud's in good hands," Lynn Sr. happily patted a hand on Larixxa's head.

"Your essence is all… weird," Larixxa commented, piling onto the confusion. Her adoptive mother gave her a tight hug, used to her comments about essence. She even kept those precious dolls that Mirayu had turned over to Ronnie Anne, out of some odd feeling that they were good luck.

"So we all have this special strong guardian essence, right?" Lola asked, more curious to learn about it with each passing minute. Both of the twins had lots of questions, but they doubted they would get more than a few answered.

"Indeed, due to an ancestor of ours stumbling upon a ritual eons ago. It appears similar occurred for the Santiago family as well. I suppose that's what you call fate's gift," Lisa nodded. She inserted the essence transfer device onto the center of the pedestal after she had finished preparing it all.

"That means we're guardians, too?! Awesome!" Lana exclaimed. Lola was not able to deny the excitement, but she just disliked how generic the name sounded. The child prodigy wanted to shoot her slightly older sibling's optimism down, but frankly she had no care left. Today was judgment day for the world, and the Guardians had to attend it as the defenses side.

"Alright, everyone. The machine to the eldritch realm is all prepared," Lisa grabbed one of the handles of the essence transfer device and proceeded to pour some of her essence into it.

"Lisa, what are you doing? You're supposed to be operating things. You hate being the tester of your experiments, too," Luna spoke. The entire Loud family was confused by how she acted, she was acting like she had lost a lot of her own feelings as is.

"Lincoln and Lynn have done so much for me, and all I've done for them is hide behind a communicator and my intelligence, instead of aiding them in a true way… as far as I care, he is my dad and she's my mom, I owe them far more for everything all together." Lisa retorted, her voice starting to have a lump.

"Wait what? Lisa what's that supposed to mean?" Mr. Loud asked.

"My tear ducts are completely dried out. All I did was cry like some infantile girl when they got taken. Once things are settled, I'll talk on the issues then," Lisa wiped her eyes. She finished giving a chunk of her essence to the transfer device, and she headed off to step into the control room with General Eugene and Lily. The Loud parents looking concerned, but did not let this distract them immediately, aware of what they had to focus on currently.

"I just want our family back together. I want to see my brave baby boy's bright smile and our super strong girls' grin when his birthday comes… being a hero made Lincoln so much happier," Rita stated this like a personal wish. As a mother, she refused to let even one thought about a farewell birthday in a cemetery come to mind.

"He became a man so fast… I've barely gotten to teach him anything, yet he's grown so mature anyway," Lynn Sr. claimed. The Loud parents grabbed the handles of the transfer device gave up a lot of their essence as much as they could spare. Then they gave the four guardians grateful hugs and good fortunes. They headed off to join the others in the control room.

"I don't think I'd be able to be me if it weren't for Lynn helping me out with my props and Lincoln listening to my new jokes all the time. They always tried to cheer me up whenever I felt like a bad comedian," Luan exhaled, looking happy to recall all the times from the growth and all the jokes she told trying to help everyone stay happy. Whether or not she was doing a good job at that, she never could tell. She grabbed the device, allowing it to take her essence. Nobody liked seeing the comedic Loud sad. She stepped aside to let the next of the Louds have their turns once finished.

"I feel bad for not doing anything more for them. All I could do was pray to the dark overlords for their safety. Lynn and Lincoln helped me complete so many of my rituals... My friends believed the Xeran were signs of our dark masters' return, but I knew it was wrong. When I said it was wrong, they called me a blasphemer. But I know by heart that the dark masters are against the opposing Xeran," Lucy stated. Her eyes remained covered, but they were housing nothing but anger and sorrow. She lost a lot of friends for disagreeing with their supports of the Xeran, but she had no regrets for doing it. Without hesitation, she gave up her essence.

"It's getting really bright now," Leni commented in awe at seeing the bright vibrant rainbow of colors spinning rapidly inside the essence transfer device. Each person that went brightened it further too, it would almost brighten as much as the sun by the time it was finished.

"And I thought half the things that explode in our fights were bright," Ronnie Anne lightly laughed, enjoying this sight. It was as if they were receiving one final good luck hurrah from the very essence itself.

"I was weirded out when he started being constantly nice to us all lately. I feel bad for not ever thanking him. All I did was treat him like a butler and get mad at Lynn when she broke my crown, I didn't even say thanks after she fixed it," Lola murmured. She felt a whole lot of personal guilt from her selfish actions, they were welded in her heart.

"I wish I had known sooner. I'd have helped Lisa and them all with those suits. They're so crazy looking! I want one really, really bad!" Lana grinned. The most she had been allowed to obliviously tamper with was the essence transfer device itself. The twins put their hands on the handles to let the device take their essence.

"You know, Lisa'd never give you a guardian suit. You don't have the looks for it either," Lola scoffed. Lana glared, annoyed by her twin.

"And you think you do? The only reason you even wanted to be a guardian was because you had a crush on Red. That was before we learned he was our only brother!" Lana retorted, making her twin's face glow a small crimson red. Even in this stressful time, Lana was not hesitating to speak her mind.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The two began their usual back and forth fighting. Lori groaned, reaching down and separating the twins before it escalated, even if she was glad to see them acting like themselves even when under a lot of pressure.

"Neither of you are big enough yet for guardian suits! Now go to the control room," Lori ordered like the stern mother figure she was. The twins grumbled between each other as they left. Bobby stepped up, feeling rather awkward about everything.

"Babe, you're not mad at me right?" Bobby murmured, "For, y'know, trying to stop you and all that whenever you tried to go be a hero during a date…?"

"Oh, don't worry, Bobby… You're one of the reasons why I'm a guardian," Lori smiled and hugged him, not going too deep into detail, about how it was thanks to him for taking that essence sphere from Teronzata that long while back that she had now become this better person.

"That's a relief… Well, here goes," Bobby felt a lot more relieved now. As their embrace ended, he swore he could feel Ronnie Anne's impatient gaze boring a hole into the back of his head. He grabbed the handle of the device with Lori, and the two gave their essence into it gladly.

"Good luck, Lori. You save my bro-ham and come back in one piece, alright?" Bobby said. He liked to see Lincoln as a sibling to an extent back when they used to hang out more.

"I don't plan on coming back any other way," Lori winked, letting her boyfriend go join the others in the control room. She stepped aside, watching Leni approach the device.

"I never really felt too helpful to the family. I always felt like one big idiot that nobody took seriously... I didn't think becoming a guardian would change how I feel about myself so much, but… it really did! So many looked to me, not because of my brains, but because of my heart, I didn't learn what was important until I became a guardian, really." Guardian White spoke. General Eugene had to rub his tearful eye. She reminded him so much of Ben that it was heartrending. Even if he was in a coma, the military general believed the former Guardian White was cheering them on as well. Leni though then witnessed her adoptive daughter grab the device and begin to give up her essence as well.

"Huh? Larixxa, what are you doing?"

"This is the most beautiful art I've ever made… I'd like to keep being a part of the beauty of this world through our hearts," Larixxa said in reply. Leni smiled, picking her up and giving a very crushing hug. That was the most she had heard Larixxa say since they first met. It sounded so sweet to her, too. Once the hug was over, she let the artistic child down.

"You go onto the control room now," Leni insisted, her adoptive daughter nodded doing just as ordered.

"I feel so stupid for nearly giving up like I did. I'm glad I've always had my family to keep me on the right road. Lynn and Lincoln have inspired me in music so much... I'm definitely not going to let some ugly monsters have two of the kids I helped raise," Luna stated, grabbing the device and beginning to give up her essence to it, perhaps more than she should have been permitted to give. No one noticed how much of her essence was extracted into the device until after it was done, as long as she was in good health nobody objected.

"I really hate that Lame-o made me wait so long to become a guardian. Guess I deserved it though. I hurt him when he tried to help me, I feel bad because I acted like some jealous idiot focused on just popularity. He's a real hero here, no matter what anyone says… and our debts to him and Lynn must be paid," Ronnie Anne gave up her essence and stepped back, she was glad to have moved past the jealousy thanks to Mirayu, she felt a lot better ever since then. Their families watched the four remaining guardians from the control room.

"Power is at 500%. I believe we're ready to initiate our attempt at connecting to the Xeran world," Lisa reached over and began to put in the special code while making sure things were not going to go out of control. The essence transfer device was an aurora of light by now. Everyone stared silently, hoping for this to work.

"Good luck, guardians. The fallen, the living, those not even here… the world's cheering for you," General Eugene hit the launch button. The tribal marks in the room began to glow bright, and the metal door to the room sealed shut, with the four guardians staying within it.

"This still looks safer than half of the things we've done lately," Ronnie Anne commented. No one could disagree with that. They watched the essence transfer device float off of the pedestal that it was hooked onto, its straps extending out to the metal frame while beginning to brighten in front of them. They all shielded their eyes.

"Oh my gosh…" Luna and Leni could only gasp at the sight of the large tear in the metallic frame. It was that scary portal that Lori had been through herself several times, and that they had seen Xeran elites, textoth, and the Majestys generals use so often. The four guardians stepped toward it.

"Well… this is it," Ronnie Anne could only say, slightly intimidated, her confidence slightly shaken now.

"Can I just ask one thing before we go, since no one can hear us?" Guardian White spoke up, the other three looking to her. Thankfully there was no audio equipment in the room.

"What's up? Don't tell me you have to go to the bathroom now of all times…" Luna groaned.

"No… I want to know why we had to lie to them all," Leni mused. They had tried to tell everyone reassuringly that they would come back unharmed. In reality, the chances of that happening required a grand miracle for every last one of them to come back safe and sound.

"We had to, because being optimistic is a good thing. Going in there thinking the worst won't do anything," Lori took in a deep breath, willing to get over her inner fears. She stepped into the portal to the eldritch realm, and it vanished instantly.

"I'm at a point in my life where I couldn't care less if I die. I've already busted my arms," Ronnie Anne confessed, she put her hands in her pockets before she continued into the eldritch portal to follow Lori, before the others could stop her with questions.

"Who knows how many have been slaughtered. Billions, at the worst! Let's do what the last world started and finish off the Xeran!" Luna eagerly rushed right in. Leni scratched her head, taking her blaster in her hand. She looked a bit depressed, but she shook it off and followed her guardian siblings into the eldritch realm.

"…You didn't let me get a dramatic line in…"


	112. Friend From Another World

"Come on, Lincoln! You can put more strength into it than that!" Lynn scolded her brotherly boyfriend as she watched him pull the middle bar of their cell with his bare hands, gritting his teeth. The two had been taking turns doing this for the last day or two. During this, neither of them had been visited by their clones from the other day. The sporty Loud was concerned that Lincoln was going to lose his mind to his anger, but he seemed to still be fine. She was impressed with how in control he was of this sensation of his, but she was scared to see the results of when he hit his limit.

"I-I can't... my leg…!" Lincoln collapsed, panting as he held his leg in pain, not able to put his full force into handling the bars because of it. His damaged limb was just sending out tremors of agony up his thigh to his entire lower body in protest.

"The crack's getting bigger, but it's still not weak enough to break the bar down," Lynn looked at the top of the cell bar where the thick stone brick it was attached to had become brittle. When she had hit it out of frustration, the stone cracked. Since then the two's plan was to lift the bar hard enough to crack both the upper and lower parts, until it was weak enough for them to knock down.

"I won't make you do that again… Just let me handle it from now on, Linc," Guardian Black insisted, but Guardian Red shook his head while trying to not succumb completely to the pain.

"If I had my guardian suit, that'd be enough to support my leg! The clones have to be planning something for us, too. That or they're letting us charge like batteries," Lincoln hit his head against the bar in frustration. His guardian suit would indeed be enough to give his leg the bracing that it ever so desperately required, since he could not get much support in the eldritch dimension.

"Shh! Someone's coming!" Lynn helped her brotherly boyfriend up and back onto one of the two mats they were given to sleep on with a thin blanket. Guardian Black knew it would be bad if they were caught tampering with the bars. Lincoln was appreciative of her quick actions and good ears.

"You're awake?" Zeggfor stepped in front of the cell bars. Lincoln got up, surprised to see a visit from the general of offense. He approached the prison bars.

"What do you want, Zeggfor? Do you want to take our essence this time?" Guardian Red irritably asked. Zeggfor grabbed his shackles on his wrists and jerked downward, breaking the tribal marked cuffs off his hands. Zeggfor fired small bolts of thunder to break the other two shackles on the young boy's ankles.

"Whoa! Are you crazy?!" Lynn stepped up, her wrist cuffs quickly being destroyed as well. Without those tribal marked shackles their guardian essence could no longer be stolen freely at their clones' will.

"If you're trying to make me dance, joke's on you. My leg's busted," Lincoln smirked, as always being cocky toward his nemesis.

"…Guardian Red… no, Lincoln Loud… the Xeran race is in no position for survival any further. The Majesty is soon going to execute everyone in the prison, to steal their power for himself. Then after that, he will murder the last of us generals… his most loyal men," Zeggfor explained. It appeared with his extreme power increase, the majesty planned on hitting the reset button with the entire Xeran race, to start from scratch. All of the general's memories returning had most likely caused this.

"What? That's crazy! But why are you telling us this?" Lincoln was not sure whether or not to believe his nemesis.

"Where are Linka and Lyn, by the way…?" Lynn nervously wondered.

"They aren't there anymore. They tried to attack the majesty and… he's sentenced them to a fate worse than death. The reason I'm telling you about any of this is because, the Xeran race will be extinct and renewed into a far worse race if we do nothing. I've been told a lot that I'm like you, Guardian Red. The people who say that are correct for good reason," Zeggfor, seeming very saddened about things, gathered up some of the majesty's essence from his heart into his hand and brought it to his face to create a disguise similar to an elite textoth.

"No way…" Guardian Black felt her jaw drop far enough to nearly break off the hinges. Lincoln froze in front of who Zeggfor truly was underneath that monstrous body.

"It's nice to see you again… bro," a rather older Clyde McBride stood before them, looking to be in his early 20s and wearing military dog tags around his neck. Otherwise he had the same clothing in his monstrous form.

"Clyde?! Wha… why are you so big? You're working for the Xeran?!" Lincoln had a million thoughts rushing in his head and felt terrible over all the times he had hit the person he saw as a brother. This was his best friend in the flesh, even if he was from another world. Lynn only could stay quiet, absorbing the shock of it all.

"The majesty never answered me, but…" Clyde paused, "Lincoln, the world I came from was a lot crazier. You tried to be as brave as usual there, but then you lost it, man."

"What…? I lost it?" Lincoln tilted his head. He hated things being so cryptic and confusing, but he was aware how traumatic it sounded.

"Your family tried to protect the younger ones, but the Xeran killed them. Every last family member. When you found out about each one of the losses, you got angrier… and angrier… until you suffered a breakdown," Clyde elaborated, "You fought as hard as you could, you practically became a Xeran yourself, it still didn't matter. I tried to help, but to mess with you from the other world, they turned me into Zeggfor."

"…That's… I'm sorry," Lincoln muttered. He had been fighting an alternate form of his best friend all this time, from a world where his alternate self had died not peacefully, but in a personal hell. Clyde turned back into the general of offense.

"I was obsessed with you, because that essence kept bringing back memories with you… now, I want you to end this nightmare. BelGaner has been slowly weakening the majesty over the course of time, I realize. So do me a favor, and when the time comes, escape and do what you must, no matter who gets in the way," Zeggfor presented their guardian gear. The guardians were hesitant at first, but they took their equipment. They could not be any happier to see their two familiar stars again.

"Skreeeeee!" a textoth emerged into the prison. The two Louds hid their gear, watching Zeggfor talk to the skeleton monster for a brief moment before sending him off.

"It appears someone else is forcing their way into this dimension… Prepare yourselves and escape when you're ready," Zeggfor began to head away to leave the prison. The sibling couple looked to each other.

"Did he say someone was forcing their way into this dimension…?" Lincoln questioned while getting his guardian gauntlet strapped onto his wrist. Lynn grinned as she zipped up her guardian vest and slipped on her gloves and boots.

"I think we know who, too," Lynn laughed as they remembered the plan Lisa had made. It seemed like the beginning of the end, and now all six guardians would be involved. It was either the majesty died, or the world and the entire Xeran race were eradicated.

* * *

"Whoa!"

"Eek!"

"Gah!"

"Ow!"

Lori, Luna, Leni and Ronnie Anne all emerged from the portal and plopped onto the hard stone floor, on top of each other in front of the eldritch castle. The portal behind them closed instantly. When the four stood up, they were amazed to see the space around them. The castle just floated perpetually in the air in a pocket dimension made entirely out of essence. Things felt much more abnormal in the Xeran's world than in their own.

"Hey guys?" Ronnie Anne piped up. The four guardians could see an army of textoth at the entrance. The general of strategy was in the front. The other generals though, Zeggfor and Shedun, were both absent, perhaps inside the castle itself awaiting for their personal challengers.

"Guardians! It is a pleasure to finally make the acquaintanceship of the second half of your group," BelGaner twirled his flintlock revolver, and fired once into the air, watching the textoth all begin to head back into the castle, only a fraction of them staying behind.

"BelGaner, just get out of the way! We're here to save our family and put an end to this war! We don't have the time to screw around with you!" Luna demanded. The mechanical Xeran shook his head. He knew he seemed like an honest fair man to them, hence why they were being this generous to give him a chance to flee.

"Allow me to inform you that the majesty is stronger than ever before, but he is also the most vulnerable he has ever been in his existence, because of me. He has put up all six of his best soldiers to defend… and as I rightfully shall do, I will duel until my death," BelGaner took his hat off and bowed slightly, the textoth looking confused.

"Wait! What about Larissa? The reason you joined the Xeran was so they wouldn't kill her, right? Why are you doing this?" Lori questioned as the mechanical general put his hat back on his head.

"I made a promise. One I intend on seeing through. I don't intend on going back to a world that has long since moved on without me. Hence why I am going to be too distracted dueling one of you to notice the rest of you bypass me," BelGaner claimed. The guardians were surprised that he was actually helping them. If the general of strategy did not put up any form of struggle, it would clearly result in agony for treason.

"I'll do it," Leni stepped up, drawing her guardian blaster, putting the white eight-tipped star on the back of the weapon and beginning to spin it.

"Guardian Mode, Engage!" she fired a blast off into the air, letting it explode. The particles rained down upon her, quickly forming into her guardian suit.

"Leni, why are you…?" Lori asked. Ronnie Anne had already begun wailing on the textoth, mercilessly starting to slaughter them all.

"Because I have to," Leni answered, "I know I'm the weakest out of all of us. If anyone gets in trouble, you need to be there to help them. I'll catch up later… I know you want to finish off that dumb clone of yours. Why stand here and wait?"

"A… alright…" Lori nodded and went off with Luna to help Ronnie Anne, as they wanted to continue deeper into the castle to find their missing family members.

"My… I've never seen someone so confident and cheerful while ridiculing themselves," BelGaner laughed. The two approached close to one another and glared at each other through their separate face covers. Guardian white knew what he wanted to do. She may not have a flintlock, but he had that empowered gun so it balanced things out onto a fair playing field.

"I've come to terms with my problems. I'm Guardian White, guardian of the essence that grants love to all life," Leni stated as they turned their backs to each other. One of the textoth that had avoided the fight had stepped to the center to act as the referee for this duel.

"Twenty paces and one bullet… Or energy blast, in our case," BelGaner declared the rules.

"One shot… O-Okay," Guardian White nodded and took in a deep breath, gripping her blaster tight in her hands.

"Ready!" the blaster chimed. The textoth began to count down. With each skree, they took another step away from each other. Leni felt an overwhelming sense of terror in her heart. She could just turn around and shoot the general of strategy in the back to end it all in an instant, but that man had done so much for them and gave a critical aid in this war. He deserved a fair duel.

" _ **Skree!**_ " with the final cue, both gun wielders turned around and fired rapidly at each other. The whole area rattled with the sound of gunfire.

 _ **"Skree?!"**_


	113. Fallen Guardians 1

Leni gripped her blaster tightly. The duel had concluded, the two gunners staring at each other and not lowering their guns after they had fired. After a few moments BelGaner began to spasm as sparks began to explode off his chest. He fell onto his back with a pained cry, his flintlock revolver clattered to the ground beside him.

"Skree," the textoth announced her as the winner of the duel, then it was blasted in the face, killing it instantly. Leni was not in the mood to tolerate more screeching. She approached BelGaner and stood over him. He coughed after lightly laughing, seeing her morph back to normal.

"…why the frown? Is this not you wanted?" BelGaner asked, seeing her reach down and remove his metallic mask to see the man underneath those blue eyes and looking to almost be in his late eighties, somehow having lived through all this time thanks to the majesty.

"My suit didn't stop the blast…" Leni took her hand away from her chest. It was soaked in her blood from taking a strong blast from the flintlock revolver, though she knew it was because she had the weakest suit due to her being intended to be the ranger to fight from the back lines. Yet she ignored just that strategy and kept being thrust into the hearts of battles. Leni plopped down on the ground, holding her pain struck chest in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, her blaster clacking down beside her. It was getting hard for her to breathe.

"I was aiming for your shoulder… I suppose my aim isn't as good as it used to be… Larissa would never let me live it down if she were here to see this," BelGaner coughed. It seemed his blast had pierced Leni's right lung. She lay back against a part of the destroyed entrance of the Xeran castle. It never had been in good shape, but now she was scared of it. She soon started to see her essence escaping her body.

"Wh-what's happening?" Guardian White asked in terror.

"It appears the majesty has increased his power in this world more than even I knew. Anyone that passes on is doomed to go to the core. It was honorable dueling you," BelGaner coughed, his entire body slowly fading away. Leni could only watch in horror as he had gone in a manner of seconds. All that remained were his flintlock revolver. His whole being had become essence and was absorbed into the castle. Guardian White took up the fallen general of strategies weapon and gripped it tight.

"I can't give up... The world needs me. My family needs me... My daughter needs me," Leni murmured as her eyesight was becoming a blur. She held her eight-tipped white star to her chest tight with her free hand, before she collapsed onto her side. It was only a matter of time before her essence was completely drained, even if it was very slowly.

* * *

Inside the castle, for Ronnie Anne, Luna and Lori, things had been repetitive. Textoth seemingly came in large groups before being slaughtered en masse. When the three entered one room, Shedun stood, blocking the way.

"Oh great… it's the running suit of armor," Ronnie Anne groaned, frustrated to see the shield bearer whom she had chased around the television studio.

"All alone, too," Lori added, not exactly feeling too comfortable now. Luna was sharing the same feeling as her older sister.

"Guardian Gold…" Shedun spoke up, "Thank you for putting Mirayu to rest."

"Uhh… No problem?" Ronnie Anne motioned the two Louds to keep going. The general of the prison was against the Majesty, but he had no choice but to give at least the slightest bit of a fight or be tortured alive.

"Good luck, Ronnie Anne," Luna wished her the best, as she and Lori headed off through the next pair of large doors. Ronnie Anne pulled out the small golden sphere and clicked it in, it became the golden spherical star that she then inserted into her guardian gear, watching her backpack reassemble onto her arms.

"You certainly are brave to do everything for this, with neither hesitation nor reward beyond an extension on temporary life," Shedun complimented. Ronnie Anne turned the dial, glaring as she quickly morphed into Guardian Gold, hearing her helmet clunk securely into place automatically as her visor closed over her face.

"I'm here to save some important people in my life, I wouldn't be me if they weren't around... I'm Guardian Gold, guardian of the essence that grants courage to all life. Even when I do die, my courage will be driving the future for others," Ronnie Anne cranked the dial all the way up to 10, choosing to ignore her sore arms though this. Shedun nodded while preparing himself.

"No holding back," Shedun declared, the two glaring each other down before then charging. Guardian Gold punched his diamond shield with one fist, sending a small blast of thunder out from it and stunning him partially, she then jump-kicked him in the throat, knocking him back.

"Tough shield you got there…" Ronnie Anne held her hand in pain. That impact alone made it feel like she had fractured a few of her finger bones. She would withstand the pain though.

"It was a treasured ancient relic in the world I came from. Teronzata believed I was able to wield it with profession. It can absorb and disperse the energy from impacts," Shedun claimed. It was like he was actively revealing his weaknesses. With a new plan in mind, Ronnie Anne reached up, grabbing the dial and beginning to twist it into emitting a Loud cracking noise.

"Aggghh!" Guardian Gold's arms began to spark violently. Lisa would lose all emotional control to see the suit's dial be purposely broken to make the power limit go beyond its allowed capabilities. The risks were ridiculous, and Ronnie Anne was well aware of that. Shedun charged at her while she was being electrocuted, whacked her with his shield, sending her into one of the walls. As she fell down, the general of the prison jumped high in the air and slammed quite hard on top of Guardian Gold, crushing her underneath his shield as she screamed in agony.

"Hmph… How sad," Shedun exhaled, about to withdraw after seeing how he had seemingly ended the fight without much of an effort, until he was hit in the chest with a thunderous strong punch, causing an explosion of smoke to erupt from him. Guardian Gold forced herself back up, despite the red hot pain coursing through her body.

"You'll know sad when I'm done with you! I'll rip that other half of your jaw right off," Ronnie Anne shouted, her entire body sparking, she pulled back and threw a strong bolt of thunder. The armored monster blocked it with his shield, but it actually pushed him back a slight distance. By the time the attack ended, Guardian Gold lunged forward and gave the fullest force of her strongest punch against his shield. The diamond shield exploded. Shards scattered like broken glass, falling all over the ground beneath them.

"What?! Grah!" Shedun felt a punch to the stomach, and a headbutt to the face. This energy Guardian Gold had was astounding to him. The very essence in her body seemed to be strengthened from her guardian gear. The constant shocks forced her to keep moving or the pain would get far worse.

"Guardian Finisher! Overcharge! Engage," Guardian Gold jumped back, before she charged for Shedun, who only smiled and held his arms out, willing to take the blow. The electric-induced charge, as fast and as powerful as a lightning bolt, sent him across the room crashing into a wall, sliding onto the ground and leaving a trail of smoke and fragments from his armor.

"Thanks for wasting my time when I have to save somebody. That's the most annoying thing you could do," Guardian Gold morphed back to normal. She looked down to her agonizing arms. The volts of electricity had hit her flesh, muscle and bone at the same time, doing major damage to them all.

"I'm sorry… but death is something I required. Perhaps now I can join my former master in wherever I go… It was an honor to lose to someone who is this strong…" Shedun's armor was crumbling apart, revealing his hollow inner body. He was beginning to fade away as essence, too. Ronnie Anne saw her own essence starting to escape from her heavily damaged limbs as well. The pain was more than her own body could handle, as result it was steadily giving up on her.

"Damn it, Lame-o… You better end this war, because if I died for nothing, I'll haunt you to no end…" Guardian Gold panted. She had no means to open up the doors that the two Loud sisters had gone through. Her arms could not even bear a single touch. Shedun's whole figure had turned into essence drawn to another area of the eldritch castle. The fragments of his shield were left behind on the floor, Ronnie Anne also had a good couple dozen of embedded into her fists and lower forearms from breaking it like she did.

* * *

"That's another dozen textoth dead," Luna huffed in frustration, while they exited a dust filled room.

"At least they're afraid of us now. Most of the ones we see just run from us…" Lori tried to look at things positively. When they entered into the next room, the two Loud girls were tackled by surprise.

"We've got you now-! Lori? Luna?" two familiar voices brightened their moods. Lincoln and Lynn were trying to get a sneaky surprise on whichever general passed by them, yet Zeggfor had seemingly vanished.

"Lincoln! Lynn!" Luna and Lori hugged their younger siblings tight.

"Are you two okay?" Lori asked, "We were so worried!"

"I'm okay. Zeggfor gave us our guardian gear back, too," Lynn happily stated. The two older Louds were surprised that Zeggfor would do anything for them, but it was nice to know the generals were doing their best to help the guardians to their full extent.

"I'm far from okay, but I'll be a lot better once we end things here. I guess Lisa got her invention to work?" Lincoln asked. He had been using the knocked down iron bar from the prison as a personal cane to keep him walking, it was uncomfortable to say the least. But he knew he had to morph only when the time came or else it would waste his energy and essence.

"She sure did! We had to get help from our families to get here, but we did it. Everyone else is back fighting the generals," Luna explained. They believed Leni and Ronnie Anne would catch back up with them eventually, oblivious to what was occurring. The young Loud couple were surprised to hear their family was involved at all, it was a great thing to hear nonetheless.

"Skreeeee!" A vast collection of screeches sounded. They looked to the direction it came from, and there was an army of textoth approaching. A gigantic wave of them. The ones they let escape might have gone to get all they could gather together.

"Whoa… uh… how about I handle this one?" Luna strummed the strings of her star guitar, stunning the textoth with the sound waves.

"You guys came to make sure the war ends for good, didn't you?" Lincoln asked, glad that the Loud siblings seemed to be on the same wavelength on this one.

"We don't have much choice, because I have no idea how we're going to get back home… This was kind of a spur of the moment thing," Lori apologized. It took her a long time herself to realize that they had no exit strategy, but agreed that they were here to end this conflict for good.

"Well, let's do this…" Lynn nodded. Luna morphed into Guardian Purple, glad they were able to get away.

"Come on, you skeleton freaks! I'm Guardian Purple, Guardian of the essence that gives the world energy!" Luna pointed to them, ready for battle.

"Let's make this the biggest show of my life!"


	114. Fallen Guardians 2

Luna was still stuck fighting all the textoth that had gathered into one large practical ocean, in an attempt to surprise the Guardians. She had stayed behind to buy her brother and sisters more time to get deeper into the eldritch castle to hopefully end this war. Even now, the group of textoth overwhelmed her.

"Back off! You undead freaks aren't even good enough to be roadies! Let alone groupies!" Luna spun her star guitar, the purple sharp trail slicing down half of the textoth in front of her. She quickly turned on her heels to catch a bone axe swung at her. She then noticed several elite textoth emerging from the groups of the skeletal warriors. They gave her no time to react as one of the giant monsters crushed her under its fist and grabbed her by the ankle, raising her in the air. Her helmet was cracked, and her visor was destroyed. She was tossed to the ground, for a dozen textoth to then hit her simultaneously. When she was being picked back up into the air, Luna began to pour her essence into her star guitar, grabbing the handle and slicing it through the fingers of the elite textoth, cutting three of its digits off and forcing it to let go, his disembodied fingers turned to dust.

"Here we go! A deluxe stone cold stunner!" Luna began to rapidly strum her guitar, going as fast as she could. The sound was making the textoth screech out in agony, and the elites were being hurt even worse from the noise. Guardian Purple bit her lip as her wrist and hand began to hurt in protest while trying to intensify the sound against the strings, her essence constantly pouring into it. The textoth's heads began to explode from the merciless playing of the guitar. Normally Luna would be just trying to keep them stunned for her siblings to slaughter. Sadly it was either all or nothing for her. She was already badly hurt from the gang-induced thrashing. After a short time Luna stopped playing the star guitar, panting and looking around to see nothing but bone dust being left from the group of enemies.

"Can't believe I trashed my guitar for that," Luna groaned, looking down. She had broken all but two strings on the star guitar. She popped the musical note-tipped star off to let the guitar go back to normal, then she morphed back to normal. Suddenly she felt something grab her leg. "What the-ack!"

There was a portal underneath her feet. A textoth, who surprised her with a sneak attack, thrust its jagged scimitar upward. She went to hit it with her guitar, but when she landed the attack, she felt a sharp pain shoot through her side.

"Crap…" Luna coughed, regretting letting her guard down like that. She had defeated all but one textoth that decided to hide away, and until the music ended had hidden away until it could deal a vital hit. She had to sit down and hold her side in pain, the jagged blade piercing her from front to back, unable to be removed due to the nature of its build. It would do so much more damage being removed than it would from being impaled into her.

"Well… Good luck guys. This looks like the finale for me," Luna felt bad for winding up in this position. She just tried to lay back and relax for whatever amount of time she had left. She could not even turn her head around to witness her essence be drained from her. She kept her purple musical note-tipped star close to her, feeling bad that she would not be able to go home with everybody else.

* * *

"The throne room should be only a few rooms away," Lori claimed.

"Great! …but something tells me they aren't going to let us through that easy," Lynn said. When the group were running down a hallway with pillars surrounding the path, they noticed one of the all too familiar clones. Part of the ceiling was missing to allow the view of the eldritch realms insane outer area.

"Loki, just get out of the way. I've beaten you enough times," Lori demanded. Her male counterpart, not even acknowledge the comment, took out his Xerardian mask.

"I need your essence to complete myself. I'm going to get it one way or the other," Loki morphed into Xerardian Blue and turned his arms into blades. Guardian Red and Guardian Black found this strange. Zeggfor had told them that the clones had tried to attack the majesty and were punished for it. To see Loki now physically fine was odd to them.

"I don't think we should waste time with him. He never really tried to hurt us. He tried to steal our essence, but he didn't seem like he wanted to fight for it," Lincoln exclaimed, recalling the last time that they saw their clones. Loki had been assailed for attempting to steal both his and Lynn's essences.

"He kind of acted like you, Lori, whenever the others ganged up on you about something," Lynn added, not really thinking about it until now. In the Loud house, it was a mob mentality more or less. But it appeared that Loki was the only one who really treated his clones as the siblings they were supposed to be, instead of using the familiar terms as a way to mess with the guardians.

"I'm not going to forgive any of the Xeran for messing with our family and our world. You two go on ahead. I'll be fine. I'm the greatest swordswoman alive after all," Lori grinned. Lynn felt a nerve shake just from being reminded of Teronzata.

"Thanks, Lori. I'll find some way to thank you all for becoming Guardians and helping me out," Lincoln smiled, the sibling couple continuing forward. Loki was half expected to attack them, but he seemed to freeze up upon pulling his sword back. The blue Xerardian was unable to bring himself to do it. By the time Guardian Blue's clone broke out of his trance, the other two Guardians had gotten past the door that closed behind them.

"There's nowhere for you to run this time, Loki, and I have no plans on leaving until one of us is dead," Lori pointed her handed down sword toward him and pulled out her three blue-tipped star and her Guardian phone, inserting it under the keypad, closing it and inputting the code.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" she brought her phone to the side of her head and quickly morphed into her guardian mode.

"I always found it ironic that you were the one trying to protect the peace of the world," Loki smirked, "I have your memories, so I know you were stuck-up before. Always asserting yourself as the top sister, right?"

"You aren't wrong… except, that was who I used to be. Now I'm whom Teronzata helped me become," Lori slashed her sword against the ground to kick up a small flare of sparks, "And the new me is Guardian Blue, Guardian of the essence that grants tranquility to all life. Besides… at least my family loves me."

A nerve in Xerardian Blue's head shattered. He threw a sharp wave of dark blue energy. Guardian Blue slashed through it, and then clashed blades with him when he tried to rush her.

"I did everything for them! Obeyed every order! And now, they're perfect…" Loki cackled. That sad undertone to his voice tightened the battle atmosphere in itself.

"Perfect?" Lori slashed upward to break his guard. She brought her sword downward, delivering a long slash across his chest and causing a burst of smoke from his torso.

"You'll see when they finish off the other two and we celebrate! We're the Majesty's children now. He's given us his strength," Loki thrust both blades forward like a deadly pair of scissors, trying to cut her head off. Guardian Blue was able to duck under it and force her blade forward in an attempt to stab her clone. He knocked her blade away and slashed her across the back. It felt like her suit barely had stopped the sword's attack. Lori gritted her teeth, feeling like the blade hit her flesh directly.

"You're not the majesty's son! You're just another idiotic tool lying to themselves until the day they die," Guardian Blue made her sword glow bright blue, and she quickly swung sideways to block the clone's attack.

"I'm immortal!" Loki then rambled on, "That's what makes me better than you! The majesty keeps them in line! The majesty keeps us young! The majesty-"

"The Majesty is going to just kill you for failing! He can make more of you!" Guardian Blue stabbed his helmet, nearly piercing it but cracking the visor. She slashed his shoulder, and then kicked her male doppelganger in the stomach, knocking him back. Lori took her star out from the side of her helmet, the opening closing afterwards, and she put the star on her sword to absorb essence into it. "You could just give up! It isn't hard to just give up this Xeran deal! You can have a normal life on earth with your brother and sister! You can do anything! Why let the Majesty dictate everything for you?! Don't you care about them?!"

"That isn't a choice! There can't be peace… because they wouldn't be them without the majesty… They'd just be themselves," Loki choked out a sob. Lori hated to imagine what he was going through. She hoped to never experience it, she could not help but feel sympathetic to this hybrid clone.

"I'll end your suffering… We'll put you all to peace. Guardian Finisher! Blitz Blade Engage!" Guardian Blue's sword was enhanced by her blue three-tipped star's power.

"Magma Scatter Crash!" she swung out a blazing slash of sharp energy toward her clone. He took the direct hit due to his sorrow distracting him, and he was engulfed in a billow of smoke from the micro explosion.

"Sorry that you never really got to do much in life beyond fight," Lori morphed back to normal. She approached the door to try and catch up to her younger siblings, but she suddenly noticed two swords set against her throat from behind her.

"You think you're better than me… Just because you got HIS sword…You're wrong..." Loki panted. His entire body was cracked, with essence leaking out from every small opening.

"…No… I think I'm better than you, because I'll do anything for my family to make sure they stay safe!" Loris sword glowed fire-red as the sword caught on fire. She turned the blade on herself, impaling herself through the stomach and stabbing Xerardian Blue, making him release his deathly hold on her as he cried in pain.

"Turning magma scatter crash!" Lori took the blade out from her body, her blood spraying out into the air. She spun around and slashed Loki from head to toe, hearing him let out a howl of agony as he fell backwards, and detonated into a large blue explosion.

"Haah… ouuugh…" Lori coughed, seeing some of her blood hit the floor, and multiple essence spheres that made up Loki's hearts roll over toward her and clatter around like marbles. It appeared he was not going to revive. She collapsed onto her stomach with a pool of blood beginning to form around her, with the blue three-tipped star tight in one hand and her sword in the other. Her essence beginning to escape from her body. She had tears streaming down her face in realization of what was happening.

"I'm sorry, everyone… I'm sorry that I won't be there to see you all grow up… Or to help you with your lives. Especially you, boo-boo bear," Lori's grip on her sword loosened, but she refused to let go of the blue three-tipped star.

"I thought death wasn't a scary thing anymore but… No-now that I'm actually dying I'm… _**I'm terrified**_ …"


	115. Fallen Guardians 3 & Uncontrollable Rage

Lisa was seated with the general, looking over multiple television screens displaying various news sources from all over the world. Even if they did not understand all the languages, it was straightforward to grasp what the multiple countries' news channels were talking about, since the reports were practically all the same.

"You were right, Lisa, and for once I hate to say that," General Eugene sighed, taking his hat off. They could see the televisions showing that the sky was looking to be cracked in multiple areas of the world. Countries were reporting these odd cracks in the air. Only now the crack over Royal Woods had begun to open, unveiling the start of one of the largest portals that they would ever witness the Xeran create, nobody wanted to witness it being completed either.

"Lately, I've been very angry about being right as well general… I've learned that things always get worse before they get better… And frankly, I've had nothing but a constant sense of dread swelling in my chest," Lisa responded, exhausted in every way. If any of their minor scans were correct, these portals were preparing to let out something far worse than just hordes of textoth. They might be preparing for the majesty to arrive and use the portals to move his entire armies through them to any area around the world without a second's delay. It would give none of the countries any time to preparethe defenses, and most of the world was still skeptical on the Xeran ordeal as is.

"Lisa… Go be with your family," General Eugene insisted, "It could be the last hours of Earth, if our worst fears are true."

"No, general… I'd rather not return to a broken family. I promised them we'd talk about everything once the others come home," Lisa replied. The rest of the Loud and Santiago family were in the outpost resting, exhausted from giving up their essence so the guardians could get to the Xeran dimension to make one large attempt to save the world, but something felt horribly wrong for all of them. The feeling kept getting worse with each passing minute too.

"Giving something to look forward to… Just think of the future, Lisa… what you'll do once it's all over," Eugene advised. The two went silent from there. Lisa knew what she wanted to do, but she was not going to be able to do any of it alone. Everyone else was seemingly in the city and hoping that all could go back to normal, all of them extending their fullest strength of hope to the guardians in this dire time.

* * *

"We're finally here!" Lincoln saw the door to the throne room. The large pair of double doors was closed tight. There was no turning back now.

"Finally! We can end this once and for all!" Lynn claimed. The two grabbed the giant doors, trying to figure out a way to open them. Whether or not Lincoln's legs were both fully functioning or not seemed irrelevant. These doors appeared to be the type that when closed, were not meant to be opened again for some time. It clearly took a lot of strength to open and close them to begin with. Lynn tried to shoulder the door, and Lincoln tried to use the iron bar as a makeshift crowbar since it had so far just been serving as his makeshift crutch otherwise. Lynn looked to him as he did so.

"…Lincoln I have to ask you something."

"What is it?" Lincoln asked, "I know the best way to get through pain is to be distracted, but I'm not hurting that much."

"What do we do after this? I've been meaning to ask you it while we were in prison, but… I didn't know if you liked thinking of the future, or thinking up a better plan," Lynn laughed. Her brotherly boyfriend scratched his head. That was an odd inquiry, but she was not wrong. He never really took much into consideration of what would happen after the war ended, as nobody wanted to even think about how it could all conclude badly.

"…I think I know what we can do after my birthday… maybe…We'd need to talk to everyone about..." Lincoln tried to say, when suddenly an insane amount of white flames engulfed the throne room doors that cut him off. A clear indication of who was here for them to act as their final obstacles before the majesty. There was no way they were putting their hands on those doors again until the fire either took it down, or it went away on its own.

"It's amazing you made it this far. I honestly thought this war was long over after we separated you guardians," the hybrid Linka's voice echoed from behind them. She and Lyn were in their evolved monstrous forms. The two Louds could tell something was different, though they just couldn't put their fingers on what exactly.

"Persistence may not be an essence, but it sure is a virtue," Lyn jumped up and slammed both fists as hard as he could into the ground, forcing the floor to shoot up in half and break, separating the two guardians and creating quite the abyss separating them from one another. If they fell into that large opening in the floor, it was essentially death, given the world that was nothing but the castle in the eldritch realm.

"Guess it was too much to hope we'd not run into them…" Lincoln got out his red curve-tipped star, feeling relieved that he could finally morph and get a more decent support for his leg from his guardian suit, though him and Lynn being separated helped no matters.

"I'm glad we did. I wasn't going anywhere until I smashed diamond-head here anyway," Lynn grinned, being fed up with these two. She got out her rough-tipped black star. Their doppelgangers did not reply. They did not even act hostile. They appeared to just be passively irritated.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" The two Louds quickly morphed into their guardian modes. They did not bother to do roll call. Linka blasted out a wave of white flames, and Lincoln blocked it with his clawed gauntlet. The Xeran-human hybrid dove into a portal during his distraction.

"That's not going to work twice!" Lincoln sidestepped when Linka tried to surprise him from behind by appearing through another portal, exactly like before. Guardian Red dug his feet in the ground and delivered the hardest punch to the side of her face with his fist, his claws piercing her skull as well. Guardian Red was thinking he had already won, but his clone suddenly grabbed his arm and forcibly ripped his claws out from her head, cutting her face wide open. He gulped in fear as the white flame monster stood up before blasting him back.

"I can't care about mistakes. I don't need your essence anymore I have essence far better than yours now," Linka giggled as light blue and orange strands began to appear from her wound, beginning to pull it closed and healing up fast. She looked like she never even had been scratched.

"What? But you were obsessed with me the other day… who are you?" Lincoln questioned. This did not sound like his clone at all.

"I'm not some insect anymore. I'm now a part of the majesty. His essence feels a lot better than yours ever did. I was just never able to appreciate it until he opened my eyes," the Xeran-human hybrid exclaimed with a toothy grin. The Loud shook his head. She and Lyn had been turned into puppets for their treachery it seemed.

"Take this!" Lyn threw a large rock. Guardian Black caught it and threw it right back, watching the male doppelganger break it to pieces. She rushed right up, punching him in the stomach with her guardian knuckles and roundhouse kicking his face, causing several cracks on his body.

"Hah! …oh, come on!" Lynn lost that motivation of the battle when her clone began to let loose the orange and blue threads, which appeared from the cracks of his body before repairing it instantaneously. Guardian Black had dealt with plenty of cheaters before, yet this caused such frustration for her. The two began to exchange and clash blows with their fists. Lynn's arms were hurting just to keep this up. She pulled out her black star from the front of her suit, closing the opening afterwards and giving a lot of her essence to the star.

"Guardian Finisher! Star Striker! Engage!" Lynn threw the star in the air and punched the four star bits as hard as she could, sending them flying for her clone. He took the hit directly, his diamond body being blown to smithereens, the diamonds that made up his body collapsing all around onto the floor.

Lincoln charged his essence into his gauntlet while watching Linka constantly teleporting and reappearing, only to then keep blasting him with fire. When he heard the sound of the crackling flames directly behind him, he aimed his arm behind him.

"Guardian Finisher! Flare Burst! Engage!" Lincoln fired his red curve-tipped star. The blast hit the Xeran-human hybrid monster in the chest, tearing through her body. Linka's scary laughter echoed out as she exploded into a burst of white flames, the embers scattering all over the ground. Guardian Red caught his star and put it back in his gauntlet.

"Did we do it…?" Lynn hesitantly asked. They noticed orange and blue strands appearing everywhere and pulling the diamond shards and the flame embers together.

"Of course not," Lincoln bashed his helmet covered head against his gauntlet in annoyance.

"I suppose it is my fault for not molding them into a more powerful being immediately. No matter… allow me to show you what happens if betrayal happens," the Majesty's voice struck terror into the Louds. It was like he was in their very minds. They watched as the two Xeran-human hybrids gained a new, muscular body. It was charcoal-black, with sharp flames and blades on their knuckles.

"Oh great… As if they weren't bad enough alone… it's worse now that they're… uh… Lynka?" Lincoln could not care to put anymore thought into a name. They watched as the combined monster swung wide for him. He ducked under the attack and slashed the side of the monster with his claws. But it did nothing.

"Dang it…! I can't do anything from here," Lynn cursed under her breath. She watched across of the other side of the abyss separating them as Guardian Red was grabbed by his injured leg and picked up into the air. Guardian Black got as far back as she could before she ran, leaping across the giant tear in the ground.

"Let go of him!" Guardian Black landed on the fused monster's back, making them let go of Lincoln and drop him on the floor. Lynn went and punched the head of Lynka, trying to force them backwards.

"Lynn! What are you doing? You'll fall!" Lincoln called out, rushing up to the monster and grabbing on. The fused hybrids were about to fall backwards into the tear, unable to focus on which of the two guardians to attack.

"That's the point! They'll just keep reviving and we'll never get to the majesty! Lincoln, I love you… I'm sorry!" Lynn kicked her brotherly boyfriend back, making him let go. The monster let out a loud cry as it fell backwards off the tear. Guardian Black at least tried to grab onto the side of the ledge, and did. Lincoln had trouble seeing through his blurry vision.

"Lynn! Lynn!" Guardian Red ran over, diving for her hand and grabbing onto her wrist. He could not pull her up as the monster was hanging onto guardian Black's legs, stalling her attempts to climb back up.

"Lincoln… here!" Lynn held her black rough-tipped star up to him.

"No! I can't lose you! How could I go home and tell them what you did?! I'd never be able to forgive myself," he gritted his teeth as he tried to hold her. She sniffled before she tossed her black star up, it clattered onto the ground nearby.

"I'm sorry that you have to do that. Just tell everybody I'm sorry…" Lynn punched her brotherly boyfriend in the face, making him let go. Lincoln soon witnessed the monster and Lynn falling out of the castle into the eldritch realm's outer areas below, to whatever unknown fate would follow.

"Lynn!" Lincoln cried out, morphing back to normal. He could do nothing for his sister, beyond watch. The tear in the ground slowly closed back after a moment. He picked up his sisterly girlfriend's black star, biting his lip and trying not to break down. He was barely able to disallow a few tears to escape his eyes.

"That was very dramatic," though the voice was familiar, Lincoln did not even look at them. The combined monster had just made another portal and reappeared back in the now repaired room, alone. There was no sign of Lynn with them, either.

"Let's end this for the majesty," Lynka stomped toward the un-morphed Guardian Red. He put his and Lynn's stars down on the ground, remaining on his hands and knees. The combined hybrid picked him up by the back of his shirt. "If it makes you feel any better, she'll be essence within moments… I'd offer you the chance for last words, but I know you won't say anything beyond cursing at me, or crying for your mommy and daddy. It's a shame you won't get to see Lisa's face when she hears everyone is going to die…"

Lincoln had enough. He grabbed them by their head both of his nails digging hard into their face. They saw nothing but that undying fury in his eyes.

"I'm going to pay you back for all the essence you took from us! You think you can hurt as many people as you want without any punishment?! Your race hurt the people I love in more than just this world! And when I'm done with you, I'm taking the Majesty's essence, too!" Lincoln began to drain away the monster's essence with his arms and into his body. Lynka let out a howl of pain, they stabbed his side in retaliation, but he head butted the hard headed monster. Causing his forehead to bleed but dazing them too.

"I always hated myself for this… I never wanted to hurt anyone, or destroy an entire race! But you proved that you Xeran are all arrogant, greedy, bastards!" Lincoln slashed a chunk out of the chest of Lynka, forcing them to go onto their knees as they took their sharp blades from his side.

"Wh…Why aren't we healing?" the afraid beast looked up and saw strands of rainbow light appearing from Lincoln's wounds. The essence was healing him. The combined monsters were suddenly forced apart when the guardian stabbed them in the face, their monstrous body breaking apart and turning them back into their former, human-esque selves.

"Wa-wait, wait! Please!" Linka was terrified, unable to move as she watched Lyn get grabbed by the throat.

"What for? You like this kind of stuff happening, don't you?" Guardian Red grinned. Xerardian Black tried to punch him in the face, but he pinned him on the ground and fired the claws from his gauntlet into the clone's limbs to pin him down. He placed his hands on the sides of his head and began to drain his essence. Lyn began to scream in agony as his body was starting to slowly turn to dust.

"No! Lyn!" Linka was backing away along the floor in terror. Her brotherly clone after seconds, was now dust and multiple empty spheres, which every last drop of the essence they housed was taken.

"Where's your king now? Oh, yeah. He doesn't care!" Lincoln took a few steps toward Linka, his leg being braced by the strands of essence wrapping around the injury tightly. She had tears running down her face as she backed herself against a wall, she actually felt genuinely horrified and scared. Lincoln delivered a punch to her face, before he entangled his hands around her throat. Lincoln continued his essence theft, his body felt like fire. He suddenly felt a bolt of thunder strike him in the back, causing an explosion of smoke to blast off of him.

"Gah!" Lincoln turned around to see Zeggfor, "Who… Clyde?"

"My name is Zeggfor. Linc… No, Guardian Red… you're acting just like you did in my world. You're torturing anyone, whether enemy or not, whether they've been defeated or not, whether they gave up or not. Like a sick monster, you're enjoying the pain you're delivering to your enemy. You lost your mind to your essence. I thought you were stronger than that, Guardian Red," Zeggfor claimed. The half-disintegrated Linka laid there, her body trying to stay formed. She barely had any essence left. Zeggfor approached as Lincoln looked down at his hands then to Lyn's leftover pile of dust and empty hearts.

"Even if one sibling died, the others need you! That's what family is for! When one changes, they all change. Even I refuse to allow you to go home as an immoral creature. Don't you think the same, Guardian Red?"

After a few moments of eerie silence, Lincoln was taking in deep breaths as he went over and picked up his and Lynn's stars. The general of offense had been running all around the castle, and he came right away when he sensed this tense rage filled atmosphere.

"…I can't forgive her… But you're right, Clyde," Lincoln put Lynn's star away, he then went over to Linka. He put his red curve-tipped star into the back of his gauntlet, making the claws pop out.

"Please…" Linka shivered. Lincoln impaled her forehead to put an end to this suffering he caused her, his eyes closed as she was reduced to dust and empty hearts entirely.

"I'll get you into the throne room, but… know that he will kill me on sight," Zeggfor stated. Lincoln put away his red curve-tipped star, but he nodded, aware that this was going to be his last battle.

"I'm still full of rage, you know… but I'll keep in control of it now, and I'll let it all out only against the majesty," Lincoln promised, his hatred had been building up since the start of this war, he was ready to unleash it. Zeggfor nodded, he concentrated momentarily and opened a portal in the air. Guardian Red was as healed as he was going to get from that fight. These new powers were similar to that of the Majesty's, but the general of offense did not inform Guardian Red of this. He just wished to let him focus on the fight ahead.

"Good luck, Guardian Red," Zeggfor smiled a little.

"Remember. All of you Louds are connected, as long as you believe in that bond. You'll be strong enough to stand a chance against the Majesty."


	116. The Majestys DownFall

**Authors Note: I apologize for the length of this, but I wanted the ending chapter to be that, THE ending chapter. We have 2 chapters left for the epilogue, please enjoy and take care!**

Here the two stood, in the throne room of the eldritch castle. The heart of the lair. Lincoln was a little horrified by the piles of bones beside the closed giant doors. The room was large with a feeling of emptiness. They heard a quick sharp noise piercing the air. Zeggfor got in front of Guardian Red, catching the surprise tentacle attack that had just been thrown their way.

"Clyde!" Lincoln gasped, seeing the familiar man sitting on his throne at the end of the hall. The ethereal Majesty's body swirled with all the essence, with the small meteor in the center of his chest. The Majesty pulled the tentacle out of Zeggfor. The general collapsed, holding his stomach in agony.

"I…I told you…" the general coughed, "This is my sacrifice to make up for what I've done."

"Make a portal and leave. I'll take up the fight, this is my battle not yours." Lincoln ordered. Zeggfor wanted to argue, but he was not going to disagree with someone who was not going to back down now. He made a portal beneath himself, sinking into it and allowing the portal to close after him.

"Guardian Red, allow me to say welcome to my throne room," the Majesty greeted the young boy as if he was nothing more than a guest, rather than the second real enemy the Xeran race had to ever fight against. It had been a ridiculous war, but one that was going to end once this battle is over, they both knew that the end result was either going to be the Xeran race being restarted essentially, but with the mighty Majesty now empowered to lead them to continue their endless rampage across dimensions, or the Xeran mostly slaughtered and sent away to wreak revenge to all those who had died at the Xerans hands, while simultaneously giving a blissful obliviousness to the other dimensions and worlds they would inevitably have invaded for essence.

"I must confess that I am impressed by all you have accomplished. Truthfully, I assumed this world was full of nothing but people yielding weak essence, unknowing the potential or existence of the very thing that makes the fabric of emotions," the Majesty extended an open palm toward his enemy, who stared him down with his furrowed brows and blazing intense eyes. "Yet you turned this small world into a challenge, an actual intimidating fight. The thing that flabbergasts me the most, is your ability to somehow cleanse the hearts of my essence and use them against me. You guardians are very impressive beings, a higher class than most of your own race."

Lincoln approached him, pointing his clawed gauntlet toward him. "Stand up and fight me."

"Humph…! I don't see a purpose for me to battle. I suppose I'll allow my generals to entertain me one last time," the Majesty held out his hand, releasing three of his dark essence-full hearts from the palm of his hand. The three hearts landed on the floor and floated up, beginning to expel dark vines.

"Of course you'd be a coward," Lincoln saw a dark purple version of Teronzata appear, a clone looking to be ethereal like the Majesty. The dark essence flowed through the clone's vines.

"I'm as brave as my soldiers. They served me until the day they died. It only makes sense that they continue serving me after they die," the Majesty replied. Teronzata reached into his chest and ripped out a curved sword.

"Guardian Mode! Engage!" Lincoln morphed into Guardian Red and split his clawed gauntlet into a set of two claws.

"And now, to properly introduce myself. I am the Majesty of Essence. I was created from this rock several galaxies away, from my own world. Essence is one of the ultimate secrets in the worlds, and this meteor unlocked it the second it arrived in the dimension."

"Wonderful. First, I'm Lincoln Loud of the Loud family," Guardian Red sharpened his claws together, a few sparks popping off from the claws colliding, "Second, I'm Guardian Red. Guardian of the essence that fuels the flames of life."

Lincoln closed his visor and charged at the clone mandrake. Teronzata swung his sword in a wide slash, Guardian Red ducked under it, slashing the side of the monster wide open. Lincoln was glad the monster was not as talkative as the real Teronzata. It was less headache inducing to him. The cut vines began to just pull themselves back together in its tangled body. The teenage Loud blocked the next sword swing with one of his claws and used the other to slash the swordsplant's wrist, it left his hand dangling by a few thick threads.

"Oof!" Lincoln was kicked away, nearly being knocked off his two feet, and then slashed across his upper chest, causing an eruption of sparks to blast off his body. He groaned out a pained cry, watching the cloned general begin healing. Guardian Red began to give his essence to both of his claws, wanting to finish this monstrous clone off right this second.

"Guardian Finisher! Lion's Duel! Engage!" Lincoln's claws caught on fire while Teronzata healed. He charged right for him, leaving a trail of embers in the air. He jabbed forward, digging his claws into the clone of defense's shoulder, causing a large scorch mark. He took his claws out to do major damage. Guardian Red spun rapidly, delivering several long cuts along the plant monster's chest as well, broken and burnt dark vines went flying everywhere.

Teronzata stabbed his side, stopping his rapid assault. Lincoln coughed in pain, feeling strained already, and watched as Teronzata yanked his sword out and raised it overhead. Guardian Red caught the then swung sword between his claws, and then proceeded to jerk downward while using his other claw to bash the middle section of the blade, breaking the blade in two. The upper part of the broken blade clattered to the ground. Teronzata looked surprised by his sudden disarming. Lincoln then jabbed both flaming claws into the chest of the monster, gritting his teeth and beginning to pry them apart. The vines exploded into a burst of flames. Teronzata's chest was ripped wide open, exposing the trio of hearts.

"Here we go!" Lincoln punched forward, all three sharp blazing claws on his gauntlet, piercing the set of the Majesty's hearts and shattering them instantaneously. He watched as Teronzata's sword vanished, and the body itself evaporated into nothing but dark essence that all filled the air, floating around the room carelessly. The Majesty did not want to reabsorb, as if he liked how it made the room look darker and grow with the atmosphere of dread. The young Loud continued his approach towards the throne now that the clone was dead.

"Hmph… I suppose these clones lack strength compared to the originals," The Majesty fired out a dozen essence spheres that all clattered to the ground, rolling around like marbles, before beginning to fly off into separate groups of threes and beginning to form into new bodies from his dark essence.

"Not them, too…" Lincoln could only stare at the other four generals that prior served The Majesty, all looking to be ready to battle to the death. "Whatever… I can beat them all. Like you said, they're just clones with half the power of the actual generals. They all have nothing more beyond your essence."

"Go ahead, if you're so confident. They may have only my essence, but they are much superior without their mental weaknesses," The Majesty claimed. Mirayu was already in her monstrous anger-induced form. The angry expression on her mask was not there, which made things more eerie. BelGaner's clone fired his flintlock revolver. Guardian Red threw himself aside, watching the spray of energy blasts tear apart small holes in the floor. Shedun, Mirayu and Zeggfor's clones charged at him, though he slashed the general of emotions to the side, cutting her arm, only for it to heal right away in seconds. He ducked under a wide swing from the general of offense's fist, he grabbed the clone's arm, spinning around and letting him act as a personal shield from Shedun's clones attempted charge attack with his own shield.

"Grah!" Lincoln was shot in the side by a blast of the flintlock revolver, small sparks erupting off of him. An upcoming combined blow of a pair of fists behind the dark diamond shield knocked him flat on his back. Guardian Red was then grabbed by his leg and swung hard into the ceiling by Mirayu's clone, he hit against the roof so hard that he left a small imprint. When he fell down, she caught him and spiked him hard onto the ground before stomping on his back, hard enough to force him to let out a scream of agony.

"I believe I've seen a weak area…" The Majesty raised a hand. Lincoln was grabbed by his sides, being hoisted up into the air by Mirayu like a target. The Majesty watched as BelGaner's clone fired a large sharp energy blast from his weapon. Guardian Red kicked Mirayu in the face, spinning backwards to escape her grasp and falling over her shoulders. He grabbed the back of her head and yanked, rendering her briefly pain struck. She took the blast directly to her torso, her dark body being blasted wide apart by an electrical explosion. The essence spheres fell to the ground, and the clone itself disappeared, the dark essence going to join the rest in the air of the room. Lincoln saw those three spheres just afterwards.

"I need power… This is the only option I have," Lincoln grit his teeth, going over and grabbing all of the essence spheres, keeping a tight grip on each one and beginning to drain the dark essence from The Majesty, straight into his body. His bones hurt so much that it felt like they were crushed as it spiraled up his arms.

"You're trying to gain power from me directly? Like a desperate animal trying to gnaw its own arm off to escape a trap? How sad… I only bestow my essence upon those who earn my grace, but if you want to make your death more entertaining to me, then go right ahead," The Majesty laughed, his head resting on his hand with a bright glow to his two eyes, as he watched Lincoln torture himself to get any form of power. Once they were empty, the young boy broke the essence spheres, tossing the shards away.

"How about you shut up…!" Lincoln growled, his injuries beginning to heal rapidly from dark strands of essence threads. The three remaining generals still stood tall. He had to be smart and quick to deal with this, but those were not his specialties when his mind was being clouded more and more by rage.

"What are you fighting for, Guardian Red?" The Majesty asked, impatient to watch the battle continue. Guardian Red looked to the Xeran leader, his guard not lowering.

"My family, my world and all of the other worlds, with a little bit of revenge." Lincoln answered, though his heart sank when before his eyes, The Majesty held his hand up, creating a large portal in the air to grant clear vision to another area, like a large movie projector. On the screen, Guardian White lay there with her hand on her blood-soaked chest, desperately clinging to life.

"My generals did their best for me. As you guardians pressed on, you were pointlessly sacrificing your lives. You can lie that you're trying to create a better world. But I'm creating a single being where everyone is together in the same body, containing the most essence in any world, I'm bringing peace by creating a god, and allowing everybody to be that god." the Xeran ruler declared his goals, all of it sounding terrifying to any human. After Leni, each other beloved person close to Lincoln was then shown on the portal.

"What… Why didn't they call for help? They said they could handle it!" Lincoln's teeth began grinding. He could see Ronnie Anne unconscious with her arms bleeding profusely, Lori lying on her stomach in a pool of blood crying, Luna was playing guitar to herself to distract herself from the cold feeling of death, last but not least Lynn floating with her eyes closed, her body slowly becoming essence in the maw of the void of the eldritch realm.

"The motive you fight for is no longer relevant. No matter how big the army or how strong, it just means they inevitably all die together or apart," The Majesty concluded. The three dark general clones began to approach the Loud boy. He pulled out the black rough edged star.

"They aren't dead… I refuse to believe they're going anywhere, the only place they're going, is home with me! Guardian mode! Engage!" Lincoln put the black star into his gauntlet, hearing the back of it lock tight. He morphed into the dragon mode combination, he put up his guard to block several laser blasts. "Essence connects us all! Those bonds are going to last forever, well after this war, well after I die! But no matter what, I'm never alone! They're all right here fighting alongside me!"

The Majesty fell silent, shaking his head at such nonsense. All it did was fuel Lincoln's combined form to fight harder. His refusal to accept their deaths turned his essence into a boiling stream of magma in his body.

Guardian Red punched Zeggfor's clones' knuckle. Despite the claws the young boy had, it did little to detour the enemy clone as his hand healed in a second. Lincoln had to raise a leg and quickly kick another laser blast off to the side, where it blasted apart more of the wall. He was glad BelGaner's clone did not seem to have the best of aim.

"Let go!" Lincoln butted head to head at the general of offenses clone, making him stumble. Shedun emerged from the side and knocked Guardian Red backwards, knocking him into one of the big piles of bones. The dragon mode guardian very soon felt a giant thunderbolt sent by Zeggfor, causing a large electrical explosion to erupt, and skeletal carcasses to blast everywhere.

"Ahahahahah… I never imagined I'd witness duels before my very throne. Perhaps this would be a good means of entertainment? It would certainly put those prisoners to use," the Majesty spoke, congratulating the generals clones. The three of them lined up, bowing to The Majesty thanking him for his praise.

"Guardian Finisher! Dragon's Roar! Engage!"

The clones and The Majesty were engulfed in a wave of fire that contained both the black and red guardian stars colliding with them all. Lincoln stood there, panting tiredly upon the red carpet. The two stars came right back to him, and he caught them both, inserting the red curve-tipped star back into his gauntlet, morphing out of his dragon mode and back into his normal guardian suit.

"What kind of idiot celebrates before they win?" Lincoln joked, seeing the nine essence spheres the fallen generals clones had dropped. He took note of their fullness, looking up to see the flames surrounding the throne dying down, the smoke blown away slightly. The Majesty remained seated, uncaring for the dying embers engulfing his throne. It sent a chill of fear up the young Loud's spine. The room was very dark now because of The Majesty's essence filling the air.

"Whether or not they were mentally strong or weak appears irrelevant," the Majesty shook his head, thrusting a palm forward. The nine essence spheres expelled the contents of their innards, the dark essence blasting Lincoln and swirling around him. The teenage guardian let out a cry of anguish as the only thing he could naturally do was begin to absorb it. By the time he had finished taking in every ounce of it, his entire body hurt, but he still refused to give up and go down.

"You're alone now, aren't you… get up and fight…!" Lincoln took one quivering step after another toward the Xeran ruler. That Majesty did just as he commanded.

"I'll fulfill your futile desire. You shall have the honor of being the first human to fight my new body," the Majesty stood and clapped, rather impressed by Guardian Red's survival of all of the dark essence he had taken in without losing his mind. The young boy was trying his best to keep his anger within his control, but it was hit or miss currently.

"What the…?" Lincoln watched as the dark essence in the ceiling was forcibly moved around the entire room. After a few moments, the throne room was changed like they had been warped into a completely different area. The throne and the piles of bones had gone, and they were on a circular platform suspended above a seemingly endless pit in a brightly lit room.

"Let us begin!" the Majesty's body began to glow bright red. He blasted a large wave of fire. Guardian Red tanked right through the flames, running up and swinging one of his claws at The Majesty. Only to be stopped and smacked in the helmet, knocking him away. Lincoln watched as the ethereal being glowed bright white. He threw himself to the side as several spikes of ice erupted from the floor, trying to impale him. He aimed his clawed gauntlet for The Majesty and fired a stream of fire. A pained response, the first real cry of pain, came out of his hated enemy.

"All you've done so far is rely on blind luck! You don't understand the true core of essence," the Majesty made several threads of essence appear from his back that began to connect together to form a pair of wings. With one strong flap, he took to the air. Lincoln stepped back in surprise.

"I understand it better than you do! There's a difference between being made out of emotions and being defined by your emotions! No normal person can control their emotions completely! That's what makes humans better than you!" Lincoln avoided a blast of thunder, almost accidentally falling into the void below during so. The Majesty began to charge up a large ball of electricity in his hands while staying adrift in the center of the air.

"So you believe humans are better than I? Some are born without emotions at all. Some actively lobotomize themselves or disconnect from these feelings, not to forget those that kill themselves daily to escape it all. You're fighting for a world of imbeciles who are ruled by their essence, instead of the essence being ruled by them!" The Majesty threw the ball of electricity downward to the ground, sending out a giant shock wave that Lincoln could not avoid. He let out a scream of pain as parts of his body began to explode into electrical smoke.

"I know every last detail of essence! From birth, I had quickly tapped into the intense heat from the flames of life…!" The Majesty hit Guardian Red with scorching fire while he was stunned. The Loud boy could only grit his teeth to bear the attack.

"…The cold icy sting of love…!" the Xeran leader sent out three large ice spikes from different parts of the floor in the area that pierced Lincoln's chest, one after another. Blood spurt out of him and stained the cold ice red.

"…The electric thrill of energy…!" the Majesty fired a bolt of thunder, hitting the Loud boy in the head. Lincolns helmet exploded, the pieces falling to the ground and exposing his scarred face. The icy spikes impaling him and his remaining suit were all that currently kept him standing.

"…The strength of determination and courage…!" the Majesty darted downward at Lincoln full force, grabbing him by the throat and breaking him out of the ice. He slammed him against the wall, pinning him there before scraping him against it like a bug beneath his shoe, continuing to fly in circles until he then flung Lincoln in the air.

"…And the sharpness of tranquility!" a dozen of The Majesty's essence tentacles were created from his wrist. Guardian Red was impaled through both of his legs, both of his arms, and his chest. He could only quiver as all of his essence was stolen from his body fast. He could feel even the slightest ounce be drained.

"Such is the true strength of essence. I, and the Xeran, rule this essence like it is our slave! You humans are only corruptors and abusers of it, unknowing how to wield it to its fullest potential…" the Majesty extracted his tentacles free from the now pale Lincoln. He fell hard to the floor with an echoing thud, coughing out blood. Lynn's star rolled away nearby. The Majesty landed in front of the throne that he made reappear, it had been moved to the back of the room, his wings folding back.

"Well then… that was quite enthralling. You guardians and my generals gave a wonderful show to watch before your deaths. You took each other out to save me the extra effort of hunting them all," the Majesty said in that eerily calm voice of his. Lincoln suddenly punched the ground while shakily making an effort to get up, despite having all of his essence taken from him.

"What is this?" the Majesty tilted his crowned head in surprise to see the boy able to stand, despite his majorly abused body wanting to give out on the spot.

"What did I say before…? We're all connected by the essence that binds us, and those bonds are stronger than anything you can throw. Our bonds are made out of care, and respect for our essence. You just abuse essence and make it into a personal weapon," Guardian Red coughed as his red curve-tipped star fell out of his damaged gauntlet, forcing him to morph back to normal. His guardian gear had taken just as much abuse as its wielder.

"Your generals knew that every Elite and textoth they created had emotions. They were thankful for their given life! You just can't stand that everyone is stronger than you ever will be. …and I will say it again; nobody I love is dead. They're all here with me, fighting to the end to make sure that no other families in anymore worlds can be harmed, and free the essence of the dead that you stole!" the young Loud took another step toward the throne, nearly collapsing, barely catching himself with one hand and forcing himself back onto his feet, refusing to give up his faith in himself or his loved ones. The Majesty let out a long exhale, he had finished toying with his enemy.

"I've had enough of your tripe. By the end of it all, it is I who will be the strongest," the Majesty raised one of his hands toward him, "I believe in your terms, this would be called a mercy execution. It was fun dueling you, Guardian Red."

The Majesty fired out a large trio of sharp tentacles from his hand. Lincoln closed his eyes, bracing himself for the strong attack.

Several quick flashes of light suddenly shined around Lincoln. He felt nothing. Not one jolt of pain hit his system. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes slowly to see an odd sight in front of him. A rainbow shield with six spinning stars circled around him. The Majesty's tentacles had only touched it, and the oozing tendrils disintegrated into essence after a few moments, only to then be absorbed by the stars.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Xeran ruler demanded, allowing his wings to spread out as five of the stars all scattered across the room. Lincoln caught his red curve-tipped star, too tired to move anymore, he could only watch. The Majesty stepped down from the steps toward him, to make another attempt at murdering him. The golden spherical star and black rough-tipped star flew to the other side of the arena, beginning to send out essence.

"Lincoln!"

"Lame-o!"

Lincoln felt his heart skip a beat hearing those voices. He saw Lynn dash by him and deliver a strong left hook with her guardian knuckle to The Majesty's face, knocking him back. She grabbed her brotherly boyfriend, pulling him away. Ronnie Anne stepped up to their enemy.

"Guardian Finisher! Overcharge! Engage!" The Majesty was hit by several strong bolts of thunder. The smoke that exploded from his body did little to halt the ethereal being. He approached, holding his shoulder in pain as it healed.

"Lynn… Ronnie Anne… You're okay!" Lincoln felt an overwhelming joy bursting in his heart.

"How… How did you survive? How did you get here?!" The Majesty demanded as the two guardians looked to each other, only partially sure how.

"I was almost dead, and then I was following a trail of essence in some overly bright room," Ronnie Anne claimed, like she had been at the entrance of the afterlife only to be led away to reality again.

"I was floating in an abyss, and just kept hearing Lincoln's voice, and before I knew it I was here," Lynn added. They were more than aware of The Majesty watching their parts in the battle. They had no idea how things worked, but they both felt an undying flame blazing in their hearts that drew them here, despite death's glooming atmosphere.

"It's like I told you… I'm never alone," Lincoln gave a toothy grin. This seemed to actually unnerve their enemy.

"Grrr… I suppose giving my generals any credit at all jinxed me," The Majesty took to the air with another strong flap and began to create a large ball of fire in his hands, to bombard the trio of guardians. He threw the magma ball toward their direction.

"You really don't know anything about emotions! Sharp Rock!" the purple musical note-tipped star appeared in front of them, before Luna appeared to them, spinning her guitar like a cyclone and hitting the ball of flames, sending it flying back at The Majesty. It crashed into him, causing him to flip backwards and bounce off of his throne with a pained shriek, his wings quickly burned.

"Luna!" Lincoln hugged his rock loving sister, and she gladly returned it by wrapping an arm around his back. It was hard for Guardian Purple to look at her injured brother, especially since they all looked next to fully healed thanks to the essence.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I don't like being late, especially with a special audience," Luna lightly joked, trying to cheer them up. The four guardians notice The Majesty snap his fingers and vanish. He reappeared on the other side of the circular room, blocking the two giant throne room doors. They watched him create a large halberd from his hands and fasten his grip around the handle.

"I am tired of these charades. If you all wish to duel and die to a god, then so be it," The Majesty growled, in seething fury.

"You're no god!" Ronnie Anne replied, "You're nothing more than a parasite!"

"You can't turn our bond into a weapon! It's stronger than any of the ones you've stolen before!" Lynn cracked her knuckles. As The Majesty charged at them, the blue three-tipped star darted right at him, countering his halberd's attack back. Lori appeared with her sword in hand, and attacked with one great swing. The two clashed weapons. After several swings, the twos pressure was shaking the floor as the oldest Loud stood her ground.

"You! I knew sparing you for that stupid plant was a regretful thing to do!" The Majesty exclaimed as he was knocked back.

"Scatter!" Lori swung downward. The sharp blue wave of energy crashed through his halberd, cutting it in half and causing an eruption of smoke to blast off his chest, creating a deep cut.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to pay you back with interest. We've got too many people waiting at home for us to return. We can't just lie down and die," Guardian Blue retorted. The Majesty began stomped toward her, several essence types swirling around him and beginning to coat him in layers of ice, fire and electricity like personal body shields. Lori stepped back in slight fear.

"The future's clouded, but it'll be clear once you're out of the picture!" Leni appeared from the white eight-tipped star, right behind Lori, and took a shot with her laser blaster. He caught the attack, giving Lori a chance to back out.

"Here you go," Guardian Blue gave her three-tipped blue star to her younger sister.

"Thanks, Lori," Leni happily loaded it onto the back of her blaster and began to spin it rapidly.

"Boost! Ammo Change! Monster Piercer!" The sharp blue long wave of energy fired from her laser blaster piercing The Majesty's essence barriers, trapping him momentarily. Guardian White then pulled out BelGaner's flintlock revolver, beginning to shoot several shots at the cracked armor. The essence exploded off from The Majesty's as his shields vanished. Leni afterwards gave the star back to her oldest sister. The guardians were all together around Lincoln, the young boy could not be any happier.

"We need to take him out for good," Lynn claimed. They were doing nothing beyond keeping The Majesty at bay since their miraculous survivals and recovery.

"He keeps healing faster than we can hurt him," Ronnie Anne held her head, feeling annoyed. Guardian Red was barely in any condition to stand up and fight as is, protecting him was not going to help the battle.

"He can just level the playing field by making clones," Lori groaned, correct with assuming that the Majesty had a cloning capability. Lincoln had dealt with the clones, but the Xeran ruler could create more if he cared to.

"We didn't exactly control that teleporting with our stars our selves either," Leni confessed sheepishly. It seemed that Lincoln's courage and determination had reached them after enough time to summon them to the throne room, they had no idea how either.

"Any ideas, Lincoln? You're the leader of the Guardian Project," Luna asked. He thought hard and quick as The Majesty began to fully heal. They maybe had another minute before he would resume his assault. He had a sudden idea hit him.

"Lisa's gonna shriek my eardrums out for this, but… give me your stars," Lincoln requested from his loved ones. They all looked to him like he was crazy, but it seemed like the only real idea they had.

"Alright, Lame-o."

"You got it, bro."

"Anything's better than waiting and doing nothing."

"Okay Lincy… I trust your plan."

"If I see anything even slightly going wrong, I'm stopping it."

"Thanks you guys… for everything," Lincoln was handed the other five stars. He was hesitant at first, but The Majesty was nearly recovered. There was no other option. His eyes glowed a furious shade of red. He began to put each of the other guardians' stars into his guardian gauntlet.

"Just believe in me. The same way I believed in you guys," Lincoln requested, holding his red curve-tipped star all. The other five stars were loaded up and had vanished. His loved ones all nodded. Their faith and hope in him never swayed once, no matter how rough things became.

"Guardian mode… engage," Lincoln inserted the last star.

"Mocking me and defaming me like I'm a petty ruler from the medieval ages… I shan't have this!" The Majesty saw a rainbow variety of essence surrounding the guardians. He paid it no mind and raised his right hand, creating a giant portal above them that began brewing with much more essence than imaginable. He was going to end this battle with all the power he could conceive.

"DIE!" Several large blue blasts shot from the portal, crashing around the guardians in the form of a meteor shower, covering the entire room in an array of explosions, part of the floor destroyed as the attack continued relentlessly for under a minute. After that, a giant cloud of smoke was left. The Majesty felt joyous, but only for a second. As things started to settle, his eyes went wide as he stepped back in shock.

"What?!"

There stood one singular guardian, its body a shifting rainbow of colors, its helmet smooth and round, its suit almost having the exact same cosmic style that The Majesty's body was formed of.

"What's going on?" Lynn nervously asked. She stood in a bright white room with the other five guardians.

"I have no idea… I feel like I'm bursting with energy though!" Luna grinned. All of them were feeling alive and rejuvenated, as if they had barely begun the fight in the eldritch realm.

"Oh, it's nice to not feel like I'm dying for the first time in a while," Lincoln lightly laughed while looking over his own body. His clothes were still messed up, but all his wounds had been recovered for the most part. Everyone was happy to hear that.

"We're not finished yet," Ronnie Anne pointed out to the side of this bright white room. The Majesty was shown through a wide viewing window in front of them. Their hated enemy blasted a large thunder bolt at them. Upon contact, the room the six guardians were in shook violently and they all felt a unified sharp pain.

"Ow ow ow! What's going on?!" Leni cried, holding her sore stomach. Everybody noticed their stars floating in front of the viewing area, creating an oddly brightly colored circle.

"No way… we… we're combined?" Lori blurted. Everyone looked at her, not sure what to say to that. They all felt another hard pain to their skulls.

"Whatever's happening, it's the last battle. I'll try and control this thing," Lincoln stepped toward the circle, until Ronnie Anne slung him to the side, where Lynn caught him.

"You've done all the work and have had all of the fun, let us take point this time Lame-o. You can take it easy," Ronnie Anne insisted.

"Agh… fine, go ahead," the teenage boy nodded, letting his ex-girlfriend step into the circle of stars and ready to start the last brawl with their new form. Her gold sphere star flew down and latched onto her chest. She was more than ready. The Louds watched the viewing area from there.

"You persistent ants!" The Majesty threw another punch at the rainbow guardian. The visors eyes flashed a bright gold as the Xeran leader's attack was caught, he was punched square in the face hard enough to make him grip his head in pain.

"Persistent? You're right on the money with that. But I'm going to show you something a lot worse than persistence," Ronnie Anne cracked her knuckles. Her voice sounded like it had a lighter echo behind it. Electricity began to run down both of her arms. The rainbow suit began to glow a constantly shifting gold color, the essence inside shifting without end.

"Guardian Gold! Cosmic Guardian mode! Guardian of the essence that grants courage to all life!"

The Majesty swung his tentacles from his wrist toward the combined guardian. Ronnie Anne caught the attack, wrapping them around her arms.

"Suck on this!" She grinned, before she let out volts of electricity that shot up the tentacles, electrocuting The Majesty on contact and blowing his hand apart. His hand immediately had to heal as his tentacles vanished.

"What kind of fighting style is this…?"The king of essence stammered. He had never witnessed street fighting. Only weapons and fighting styles in each world he attacked. The Majesty created a new set of wings and flapped, attempting to take off to the air to gain an unfair advantage.

"Hey! Don't try and run from me!" The cosmic guardian shouted.

"We have better control of essence now. Let's try to do what he does," Lincoln suggested. His family was wondering how they wound up in this crazy part of life.

"How do we do that?" Lori requested. The Loud boy made them all surround Ronnie Anne, who was in a trance while controlling the cosmic combined guardian.

"Hold onto your star and give it essence! That's the only idea I have!" Guardian Red ordered, beginning to grow sick of hesitating in every dire situation. They could see the Santiago girl dodging each attack from The Majesty. Every time he swooped down, he would try to grab her to throw her into the pit, all with lightning speed.

"Alright. I guess just give essence and think of what you want it to do," Lynn added to the order as the five guardians put their hands on each star. They all began to give their essences to it.

"What is it now?" Ronnie Anne noticed essence coming out of her back. After a few moments, a rainbow pair of wings appeared. "Wow!"

"Hey! It worked!" Leni exclaimed in disbelief.

"I got a feeling things are about to get dizzy…" Luna groaned. Guardian Gold took off to the air with one hard flap, jumping over the surprised eldritch being.

"What?! How are you able to control essence?! This is impossible!" The Majesty turned around and charged for the cosmic guardian. Ronnie Anne flew right toward him at full force, delivering a strong punch. The two traded exact blows to their faces, Ronnie Anne able to take the hits she was given. She grabbed onto The Majesty's back, wrapping her arms under his arms and pulling back, keeping his wings pinned.

"Let's go down then!" Ronnie Anne laughed, as they fell full force from the air, crashing into the throne. When The Majesty refocused his eyes, he saw the throne itself, in shambles.

"My throne… I sculpted that with my own two hands!" The Majesty blasted a giant wave of fire that engulfed Ronnie Anne. She screamed in pain, feeling the blazing intensity burn away the essence wings.

"Alright! I'm bursting with energy! Tag out!" Lynn grabbed Ronnie Anne.

"Wuh?" Ronnie Anne moaned after being yanked out of the star circle, feeling a little dizzy. Lynn stepping in as the golden sphere star flew back to the circle, the black rough edged star then attaching to her chest.

"Sorry. She's just so eager to hit something," Lincoln apologized to his ex-girlfriend, aware she hated being touched without any form of permission, but he hoped an exception would be made here.

"Guardian Black! Cosmic Guardian Mode! Guardian of the essence that grants strength to all life!" Guardian Black roared. The combined guardians visor's eyes flashed black and the body changed color to the shifting black essence.

"Here you go!" Lori grabbed her star. The other Louds and Santiago knew what she was doing. They all began to give up their essence again. In a matter of moments, the cosmic guardian had large knuckles and boots to match Lynn's regular guardian suit.

"Thanks!" Lynn laughed, she charged toward The Majesty. The Xeran leader got hit in the chest, and he retaliated with a strong kick to the cosmic guardian's stomach and punched their face. Each hit shook the combined guardian to the core, but they withstood the hits. They began to rapidly exchange punches and kicks.

"Come on! Is that all you've got?! I've been hit harder when I started kick boxing as a child!" Lynn dug her feet into the ground and delivered a strong uppercut to The Majesty's jaw, the attack sending him upwards off the ground a short distance. When the Xeran leader came back down, she jumped up and drop kicked him in the back. The Majesty's scream of agony echoed as he got knocked into the abyss of a pit beneath the arena the throne room had became. Lynn laughed and flexed, feeling stronger than ever.

She then felt a strong rumble, noticing a large hand emerge from the pit and grab onto the side of the circular platform. Slowly, The Majesty reappeared, now bigger than ever before. "Okay, this is getting way out of hand now!"

The cosmic guardian gasped when several large tentacles appeared from the ground, all made from essence, which began to swipe at her. Lynn punched and kicked any of them that came for her. The Majesty seemed to have nothing but tricks up his nonexistent sleeves, she then was grabbed by each arm and leg.

"I'm tapped! Tag out! Tag out!" Guardian Black fearfully called.

"Uhhh, I guess I'll go next," Leni gulped. Lincoln wanted to opt into it, but they would not allow him yet until needed. He had handled the forefront of the battle. Lynn gladly stepped aside. After a brief few moments, Leni, in the circle of stars, had been attached to by her white eight-tipped star.

"Alright. Let's change the weapon again," Lincoln said, and they all grabbed their stars. The cosmic guardian's essence body shifted colors. The visor flashed white for a second as a laser blaster appeared in both hands. They were nearly being ripped apart by the tentacles. Guardian White was able to shoot once to blast one tentacle, making it let go. She quickly blasted the rest of the tentacles, they all began disintegrating immediately after being hit.

"Guardian White! Cosmic Guardian Mode! Guardian of the essence that grants love to all life! And I'm going to hurt you really badly for hurting Lincy!" Leni combined the laser blasters, gaining the main one back. She fired, hitting The Majesty's hand. The laser was strong enough to burn a hole through it, making him pull back and halt his attack. The cosmic guardian took aim, going on one knee and charging up a strong blast, while the other guardians donated their essence to enhance the strength of the attack.

"Curse this slow body!" The Majesty growled. His large yet sluggish form tried to grab Leni, but she pulled the trigger, firing a large white laser that pierced The Majesty's chest, hitting the meteor in him. Essence escaped from his body like an activated fountain. The Xeran leader began screaming in fear as he shrunk back down in size, landing on the arena floor, trying to halt the essence from escaping.

"Rapid fire!" The blaster called out, Leni beginning to pull the trigger as fast as her finger could handle, firing a volley of laser blasts, each one hitting The Majesty and exploding on his body, cracking it more. Smoke burst out of The Majesty and obscured everywhere in the room. It was scorched and full of smoke at this rate, the room looked nearly on fire.

"Damn it… That is enough!" The Majesty grabbed his cracked chest. The essence escaping him formed in his hand, it then created a brutal, jagged blade.

"Eek!" The cosmic guardian cried upon being slashed across the side, it hurt like the guardians were all cleaved together. The Xeran ruler spun like a top, dealing cuts across the combined guardians body.

"That's it! Let me show this jerk what happens when you mess with the best swordswoman in the world's family!" Lori shoved Leni aside, her three-tipped blue star attaching to her.

"I'm going to strangle you if you keep reminding me of that annoying plant!" Lynn felt a vein pop, her brotherly boyfriend trying to keep her calm.

"He's losing his cool head, though that's good for us," Luna claimed. It was a good sign of how dire The Majesty was being to try and win this war. The cosmic guardian's visor flashed a light blue as the body's essence began to shift colors once again.

"You have more control over essence than I realized. Perhaps there is a reason why you corrupted my hearts," The Majesty swung his sword sideways. Lori was able to block the attack with her forearms, kicking the blade downward and headbutting The Majesty to stumble him. Teronzata's sword forming in her hand from essence.

"We work with essence! We don't make it work for us!" Lori twirled her sword and slid it across the ground.

"Guardian Blue! Cosmic guardian mode! Guardian of the essence that grants tranquility to all life!" the combined guardian declared as the two clashed blades. The Majesty seemed to not have any real understanding of swordplay. He shoved forward to break her guard and attempt to stab her stomach, yet Lori was able to block the attack with her blade, she shoved him to the side.

"Nooo!" The Majesty's chest was stabbed once again. The meteor even more damaged, he looked traumatized. The oldest Loud swung, hitting him in the side of his neck and between his left shoulder. She then grabbed the blade and plunged it through his entire body. Sparks spewed from The Majesty, and he had seemingly used up everything he had in him, and could no longer heal fully. The Majesty dropped his sword while trying to concentrate, beginning to create a large ball of several elements to try and devastate the cosmic guardian.

"Let me try. I can stop that," Luna stepped up. Lori nodded with a smile, stepping away from the star circle. Luna stepped into it, her purple musical note star attaching to her.

"This'll be good," Ronnie Anne smirked. Playing spectator was nice to her. Lincoln felt weird about watching a fight and not being allowed to participate right away, but he would accept it.

"Are you ready to rock?!" Luna called out as the combined guardian's body color shifted once again, and their visor flashed a bright purple. Her family helped create the star guitar, letting it appear in her hands.

"It is almost completed…!" The Majesty had made quite the large ball of energy. The guitar wielding guardian spun around with a smile.

"Guardian Purple! Cosmic Guardian Mode! Guardian of the essence that gives the world energy! And I'm going to give you one hell of a stage show!" Luna began to play her guitar rapidly. The noise pierced The Majesty's eardrums, making him begin to lose focus, almost dropping the elemental bomb he had made. The Xeran ruler was struggling to work through the violently booming tune, his ears ringing.

"Hope you liked the private show!" Luna spun her guitar, sending out a few sonic waves that hit The Majesty, making him release the large elemental ball. It landed on him, exploding into ice, fire and thunder and give him mighty damage.

"Oh no way…" Lincoln was in awe. As the messy aftermath cleared, there remained the leader of the Xeran on his knees, bleeding essence. The meteor in his body began to try and desperately expel more in an attempt to heal him, seemingly failing. "Luna, let me take over. I'll deal with him now."

"Go ahead, bro," Guardian Purple let him step into the circle of stars, his red curve-tipped star attaching to his chest. The cosmic guardian began to shift to a blazing red color. The visor briefly flashed bright red.

"This war ends now…" the cosmic guardian spoke as his clawed gauntlet was created thanks to his loved ones' essence. He took a few steps toward The Majesty, aiming his sharp claws at him. The Xeran ruler raised his hand.

"Stop! You do not know what the consequences will be!" The Majesty was on one knee. The meteor within his eldritch body spun rapidly, cracked in multiple areas and trying to heal itself. The Xeran leader had seemingly been pushed beyond his limit. "…If you destroy the meteor in me, all of my hearts will escape! Hundreds of thousands! Even over a million! I have opened rifts all over your planet! They will rain upon it and cause unspeakable chaos! …But we can work together… Our races can coexist, with your powers and mine combined, we can bring an eon of peace."

The guardians laughed lightly at how pathetic he had become.

"You're right. Maybe our races can coexist in peace… But that'll only happen when you're gone. Whether or not the Xeran those hearts become are evil or good will be up to them," Lincoln seemed happy that the Xeran would not be eradicated. It relieved him of the burden of having to slaughter an entire race of living beings to extinction. Without The Majesty, they could be free of that evil influence. The cosmic guardian slashed its claws against each other.

"I'm Guardian Red, the cosmic guardian… and we're the guardians of the essence. To make sure it stays free and out of the hands of monsters like you," Lincoln declared. His family loved to hear that. They knew what he was going to do. They began to pour all their essence into each star as the cosmic guardian took aim for The Majesty.

"This… This can't be happening to me…" The Majesty shook fearfully.

 _ **"Guardian Finisher! Cosmic Bombardment! Engage!"** _ The guardians' voice unified as the cosmic guardian fired a rainbow explosion of essence from their gauntlet, the six stars flying right for The Majesty and blasting through him, nearly destroying his body. Each star that hit him caused a different color of essence to explode from him. After the hit, the stars scattered to separate directions around him.

 **"Funky Brawl! Engage!"** the white eight-tipped star began to blast lasers down upon The Majesty, the shower of beams beginning to cut his body all over.

 **"Stage show! Engage!"** the purple musical note star blared out a loud rift of a guitar, causing him to be stunned before swooping down and slashing through The Majesty's head, cutting it wide open and causing his crown to fall to the ground.

 **"Over Charge! Engage!"** the golden spherical star crashed into The Majesty, emitting a large explosion of thunder that gave the meteor double the amount of cracks. The Xeran leader's body began to fall apart.

 **"Blitz Blade! Engage!"** the three-tipped blue star flew toward The Majesty, cutting his left arm off. It spun backwards and cut off his right leg, forcing him back down when he tried to get up.

 **"Star Striker! Engage!"** the black rough-edged star broke off into four pieces mid-flight and collided with The Majesty, causing his chest to burst wide open, exposing the meteor core in his body. No longer could his figure regenerate, or protect it.

 **"Flare Burst! Engage!"** the red curve-tipped star spun rapidly, lighting ablaze. It flew for The Majesty, hitting the meteor directly with the flaming impact, full force. With that final attack, the meteor exploded. He scream in agony as fragments of his meteor scattered to the floor, and essence spheres began to fly everywhere.

"Curse you Guardians! You ruined everything I worked hard for! You and those bastards in the last dimension!" The Majesty gave up his last words, before falling backwards. He then exploded into a rainbow of essence, which scattered across the area to parts unknown. The cosmic guardian broke apart afterwards, the six guardians falling to the floor, their stars landing by them.

"We… we did it," Leni panted, exhausted physically and emotionally.

"I can't feel my arms," Ronnie Anne lay there sorely.

"Everyone's safe now," Lori smiled, lying on her back and looking at her sword.

"That was one crazy finale," Luna claimed, trying to stay relaxed.

"I've never felt so great from a victory before in my entire life," Lynn lay beside Lincoln, holding his hand with a smile.

"Finally… It's over…" Lincoln exhaled a tremendous sigh of relief. His leg still hurt, but he would live with that. Not everything was going to be healed, thanks to the fact Linka had left her scar on his very bones.

"Uhhh guys? Everything is vanishing!" Luna suddenly pointed out. The castle was vanishing into essence. The Majesty himself was seemingly the only thing keeping the eldritch realm stable. With him out of existence, everything was falling apart and turning back to essence.

"What?! Come on! We didn't just go through all that to disintegrate! I already did that once!" Lynn fumed.

"Wh-what do we do?" Leni held onto Lori in fear.

"Have I mentioned that I hate my life lately?" Ronnie Anne tried but could not lighten the mood.

"Any ideas, Lincoln?" Lori asked.

"Nope," Guardian Red simply replied, lying on the ground with his arms behind his head looking to the ceiling.

"How can you be calm?! We're going to die if we do nothing!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed, her ex-boyfriend not cleaning that bucktoothed smile off his face.

"I just don't have any plans… I'm trying to enjoy the victory," Lincoln responded. They now only had the small arena left. Everything else had turned to nothing but void. But then as their worry grew high, they noticed a small rift appear in the center.

"I suppose this means you won?" Zeggfor stepped out of the portal, holding his injured stomach. It seemed like he had survived the attack he endured from the late Majesty.

"Clyde! You came back for us!" Lincoln ran up and hugged the general of offense.

"Clyde?!" Lori tilted her head in confusion. Unable to believe this was the young boy who was obsessed with her at one point. The Loud boy had a lot of explaining to do for this.

"Indeed… Thank you Guardian Red, I would have died pointlessly if I had remained… Come, you have done me the favor of giving me freedom and putting the dead to rest. Allow me to repay you this time by saving your lives," Zeggfor bowed. The portal he made would let them all go back to their world. The guardians all darted right into it, vanishing instantly.

"Come on. I've got you," Lynn had to help Lincoln up, her brotherly boyfriend appreciating it, and the two of them went into the portal. Zeggfor followed behind the two as it closed afterwards, the eldritch realm vanishing entirely mere moments later.

* * *

"Whaaaa!" they fell from the air and all landed in various areas of the center of Royal Woods. Lincoln groaned as he popped his head up from the water fountain he had landed in, spitting out a few coins.

"Nailed it!" Lynn laughed, having managed to land on the edge of the fountain instead of in it. Lincoln rolled his eyes. Reaching up and yanking his sisterly girlfriend into the water, laughing before he was tackled.

"Feels great to be back in our world," Luna stretched in a large bush.

"I hate teleportation! Never again!" Ronnie Anne crawled out from the inside of it after Luna landed on top of her.

"Is everyone okay?" Lori was caught in a nearby store sign. She had to cut off one of the ropes holding the practical sign up to give her the chance to slide down to the ground. Zeggfor stood nearby, watching everyone relaxed, bar Lynn wrestling Lincoln into submission.

"Heeeeey! Get me down! Please!" Leni cried, being caught in a tree hanging upside down. Zeggfor could not help but slightly chuckle. He went over and hit the tree, shaking it hard enough to make Guardian White fall from it. The general of offense caught her with his hands and put her back onto her feet.

"Thank you," Leni meekly said. Somehow, as the guardians noticed, they had not captured the attention of everyone in the area. They were instead staring up at the afternoon sky.

"Whoa…" Lincoln pointed up while lying on his back in the water, with Lynn on top of him.

"What is it? …oh, wow," Guardian Black went wide eyed at what looked like a shower of stars flying through the air. It only took a second for them all to know what it was. They were coming from the portal in the sky. It was The Majesty's hearts, the ones he warned them all about before his death. It was beautiful to them.

"Well, let's just enjoy the show," Luna said. There was not much they could do, and whether or not this turned out good or bad would be up to the independent Xeran Elites born from the essence spheres.

"We should go tell everyone the good news," Leni insisted. The five guardians began to head off. Lincoln however remained behind with Zeggfor.

"What are you going to do now, Zeggfor?" he asked. Without a home world or army to lead, there was no natural purpose for the only surviving general.

"I guess… the only thing I can do, is make up for my atrocities by helping others," Zeggfor gave the only answer he could bring up in his head.

"That'll work…" Lincoln nodded. Indeed, all Xeran weren't bad when they were given their own forms of freedom, but they needed to keep tabs on them while simultaneously giving people the message that there were good natured Xeran out there that should not be feared.

"Lincoln! Are you coming?" Ronnie Anne called out from afar. The teenage boy groaned, getting up and taking a few steps away, having to support his leg to walk.

"You take care Clyde-er… Zeggfor, I don't know if we'll meet again, but I wish you the best," Lincoln bid Zeggfor farewell and caught up to his loved ones. The general of offense looked to the sky, at the essence spheres flying through the air.

"This world is going to be changed drastically in these next few years," Zeggfor began to walk the opposite direction, since none of the people around were taking notice of him yet. He hoped the guardians would be fine, but the offensive general could not feel anything but guilt for the other deceased generals who died for the same cause by the end. The portal in the sky was becoming smaller overtime, now that it released all of the essence spheres it could send out. It would be gone in a matter of hours.

* * *

"This is beautiful," Rita Loud could only watch the sky outside of the outpost. They had all come out after this event started.

"This is a tremendous phenomenon… Whether or not it is tremendous in a good or bad way is beyond me," Lisa rubbed her eyes sorely. Tension was gradually melting away for her and the others, thanks to this.

"I'd like to think this is a good sign… Even if I got canned from two jobs," bobby claimed. His coming over to the military outpost instead of his jobs without warning, had upset some of his bosses into firing him.

"They look like shooting stars," Lola said in awe.

"I could watch this all day," Lana added, holding Lily in her arms, the baby Loud mesmerized similarly by the essence spheres shooting through the air.

"I guess we're 'shooting' high with our hopes here," Luan gained a few groans.

"Looks like all my prayers to the dark lords have not been in vain," Lucy claimed, pointing off to the side where they could see the six guardians returning. Everyone felt a sense of joy wash over them

"Lincoln! Lynn!" Lynn Sr. Felt his heart jump for joy. The guardians barely got near the outpost before they were all tackled into a giant hug from the group. The soldiers around watched, looking anxious to hear the news of the outcome of the battle.

"Guardians! Welcome back… Did this mission end the war, or was this just a rescue mission?" General Eugene requested. He hated to bring any form of work up, especially right now, but everyone was eager to hear.

"It's over, for the most part. The Majesty is gone, but uh… well, the news about the raining spheres is the hit and miss news," Lincoln answered. Then emerged the sound of cheering from the soldiers that blew out the Santiagos and Louds' eardrums. Lisa broke in tears of joy upon seeing the whole family returning, and Lincoln was more than happy to hold her.

"Ronnie Anne! Lori! You two are okay, right?" Bobby asked.

"Bobby, I'm as fine as ever," Ronnie Anne nodded.

"Oh, boo-boo bear," Lori hugged him, "I have had the roughest day of my life, but I'm fine."

"I'm sorry for us worrying you all," Lynn apologized.

"But we're fine! I'm going to need to talk to a doctor about my leg, though," Lincoln claimed. He would not care if there was nothing that could be done, but he would hate if he ignored help because of a skeletal doctor telling him his leg was beyond medical aid.

"Larixxa! Ohhh, I missed you so much!" Leni hugged the child tightly in her arms.

"Your essence feels… so strong now, mom…" Larixxa replied, returning the hug. The six guardians did not know whether or not to tell about the fusion deal. They doubted their family would believe every last thing they did in this war anyway.

"I have gotten a lot of motivation for my first album," Luna declared, feeling better than ever. Going through all that had given her so much inspiration for her music. She was playing lightly with Lily in her arms, happy to be back.

"Come on! Let's get you to the medbay! I'm just glad to know the family is back together," Lynn Sr. Declared. Everybody began to gladly head inside the military outpost to get the six guardians checked out.

"So this is how things end...For now...The Majesty's gone, the Xeran race isn't extinct, the world is safe and all of us lived," Lincoln thought. He held Lynn's hand, happy to be with his family. He knew they had a lot of things to talk about. "We've all changed a lot in these few months. I didn't think we would ever be heroes. Except, I don't think we're anywhere near done being guardians, even if this is the end."

Lincoln was helped into a medical bed, feeling glad to just be off his feet. The other five guardians all were thinking similarly that their duties were far from done, this was something that took priority to discuss privately between them all, and Lisa of course.

"Whatever comes next, our futures are cleared and set in stone, with everyone else's futures safe for them to mold into their own desires. I just hope they forgive me for what I want to do after my birthday. I have a girlfriend and a daughter that I love enough to die for, but I'm glad I didn't have to sacrifice myself for them... We're going to need each other if we want to get anything done…" he laid back, closing his eyes. The families were all conversing, except him. He was drained exhausted, only wanting to just sleep. During his blinking, he swore he could see a vision of some of the past Xeran Elite monsters they had fought giving waves or thumbs up from the room, and then a vision of Vernan with a smile on his face, all just figments of his mind for those brief seconds they were around.

"What started off as one man's dream to help protect the world became a reality of helping make not just this world better, but the others after it, even if they don't know it." Guardian Red saw Lisa beside him on the medical bed, he gladly let her join him in the much needed nap. He rubbed her head, seeing that relieved look over her face despite the bags under her eyes and tired aura about her.

"I'm going to sleep early… Wake me up when we're going home," Lincoln yawned, glad to see everybody so joyous. It was like a small party being celebrated before his birthday. He knew where his future laid, and that was one mess of a path that nobody was going to be happy about beyond the other Guardian Project members and himself. The world was going to change soon. A practical alien race was soon going to join amongst the humans, humanity would have to adjust to make sure that the world did not fall under any more dire circumstances. Still, evil would always exist, whether or not it would rise in just as threatening a form, or one stronger or weaker. Only time would tell, but the guardians were more than ready to try and help alleviate anything.

 _ **The end...**_


	117. Epilogue

**Guardian Louds Epilogue**

 **Fic written by: The Loud Author of fanfiction dot net**

 **Assistant Proofreader: The-Irish-Clover of deviantart dot com**

 **Very important authors notes at end! Please do not complain of the chapters length, I intended for this to be 2 chapters for the epilogue, but I went against it to get the ending out there for everyone in one chapter. Enjoy and take care!**

It had been two weeks since the Xeran war ended. Things had returned to normal for the most part, but now Xeran monsters were becoming commonplace. The people of Earth were still not sure how to feel about all of this. The monsters themselves did not even know what to do with themselves half the time, but things were seemingly sorting out on their own, with no trouble makers to spoil a thing thus far, and if there were any, they hadn't reared their heads around yet.

It was ten in the morning. Lincoln currently was sleeping alone in his bedroom of the Loud house, with a smile on his scarred face. Ever since the war ended, he and the other guardians had been more or less bothered by media at every turn. Each guardian harassed by the paparazzi had their own feelings about it, they were able to scare them away from the Loud house last night when they swarmed like flies. He slowly opened his eyes when the sun hit his face through his window, he sat up in confusion.

"Lynn? Lisa?" Lincoln looked around. Those two had slept with him every night since the war ended, but today, they were not in his bed, nor anywhere to be seen. The red lights on the front of his clock flashed 10:21 am. However, someone had disabled the alarm.

"Today's already came, huh…?" he mused to himself, rubbing his messy bedhead and fixing it up into his usual style. He took a few moments to change out of his orange pajamas and get dressed in a pair of blue jeans and his orange hooded sweater. His guardian gauntlet rested on his dresser, the red curve-tipped star beside it.

"I feel naked without this," Guardian Red smiled, slipping his guardian gauntlet onto his forearm and strapping it on tightly. The only reason he took it off was because everyone had agreed to take a break from being guardians until today. He put the red star in his pocket.

"I still need to get used to you, though…" Lincoln grabbed a short cane beside his bed that had small flame decals running across it. The item was made of pretty sturdy quality wood. He had been told that his legs bone was permanently damaged. He thus received that cane the very day after the war was over, as a personal gift by General Eugene, the military general had told him the cane was about twenty years old, he had gotten it during a personal mission and had kept it as a good luck charm, Eugene thought Lincoln had more than earned it. The general was a very kind relaxed man now that the war was over, he was keeping the other gift for the other guardians secret until tonight came. The young boy placed the cane against the floor, beginning to leave the room.

"Well it's pretty quiet today… that's not a good sign," Lincoln thought. His own paranoia aside, it always was a bad thing whenever the Loud house was quiet. He made his way downstairs, where he then heard babbling coming from the kitchen. He happily trod to the kitchen where he saw Lily sitting in her highchair playing with a few of her toys.

"G'morning, Lily. How are you doing today?" Lincoln rubbed his littlest sister's head. She cooed happily and giggled lightly when he tickled her chin. He was oblivious to the fact that he was being snuck up on from multiple directions, while one of the two he saw as his own children practically had his attention.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

The yells, kazoos and confetti sounded. Lincoln screamed jumping in the air slightly and fell on the floor in surprise, his cane hitting him in the head. He groaned in pain, hearing a round of laughter.

"Oooouughh… Why is everyone in my family so tactical…?" Lincoln sat up. His whole family was pretty clever with planning, he guessed that they were why he learned planning in the first place. Lori and Lynn helped him off the floor and placed a party hat on his head, letting him pick up his cane again.

"Sorry about that, dude," Clyde placed his present on the table with the others that everyone brought.

"Boy, Lame-o. You sure can jump high for someone with a busted leg," Ronnie Anne commented. Lily was cutely laughing Loudly after seeing that scene.

"I'm glad I was scared by more than just my family this time… really, I'm sure General Eugene would've spared Billy and all his air horns," Lincoln sat down, thankful that General Eugene was not here. It would have been slightly strange to have a general in their house for this occasion.

"Well son, you sure made your fourteenth birthday memorable," Lynn Sr. was still trying to absorb the fact half of his children were super heroes, not that it seemed to change their views about them. They were happy that their children had not been given large egos from becoming heroes. If anything, it had made them all more humble, and grown up. Especially Lincoln, he probably had grown the most out of them all.

"I wish we had known sooner, but I'm just glad all my babies are back home safe and sound," Rita smiled while taking Lily out of her highchair.

"Since we're having extra company over we made a big cake," Leni hummed with Larixxa right beside her, holding her hand. Lincoln went wide eyed seeing a double stacked chocolate cake be brought out, it got everyone's chocolate addicted attention.

"Or at least that's the excuse we're running with," Luna chuckled. No one was going to argue or complain about extra cake.

"And that is precisely why the cake container is locked until the presents are done being opened first," Lisa added. No one was able to open the container but her. Last time they had a cake unattended for even half a second, it went missing, everyone but the poor birthday girl at the time had gotten a slice.

"Thanks, Lisa," Lincoln patted the child prodigy's back.

"Come on! Open them up already then!" Lola insisted, as she and Lana shoved their presents toward him.

"Yeah! I'm starving!" Lana chimed.

"Boy… I guess we better 'un-wrap' this up fast then," Luan gained some groans, but the Loud boy at least gave a light laugh in response to that bad pun, as if they had become rather ineffective to him.

"I had to look all over town for someone to customized your gift, Lincoln," Lori exclaimed, putting a small box in front of him.

"I couldn't decide on a gift, soooo… I kind of stole something of yours that was broken to have it fixed," Lynn's apology did not narrow things down, since Lincoln did not keep track of his broken items. They were just tossed onto a shelf and then treated as collectibles or personal memories.

"I used essence to make my gift," Lucy put her present down. It sounded more worrisome than sweet to Lincoln. Everyone was mobbing him with gifts, wanting to have them opened immediately.

"Alright, girls! We're going to do this in a fair way. The oldest will have their present opened first then the youngest, then back and forth from there," Rita ordered everyone to calm down, as funny and cute as it was to see the family get along so well, and see how much they cared for one another.

"Then after, that we'll hear the important news," Lynn Sr. said. Guardian Red had told their family that on his birthday he would share important news. Lisa had claimed similarly. No one wanted to inquire about it back then considering how stressful things had been lately.

"I know you and Lisa made my new phone. I didn't know how to thank you, so I used my cash to get you something to show my thanks… even though I don't think I could repay you and Lynn for saving my life," Lori explained while she handed over her present. Lincoln shook his head. Not changing that smile of his.

"You saved my life too. You'd think that'd be enough," Lincoln jokingly replied, pulling the wrapping and lid off the present. He rested the lid aside, reaching in and opening the cardboard underneath apart.

"Whoa you really got me this Lori? How much did it cost?" Guardian Red pulled out a pocket watch. It had a golden chain, and on the back of it was a curve-tipped star to match his. With the simple click of the side button, he opened it up. Real pocket watches were expensive, especially customized. The pocket watch was able to house a small picture as well. Everyone was rather impressed with the gift.

"Oh it didn't cost much… only about…" Guardian Blue's voice trailed off into quiet for a moment, as if she was hesitant to answer.

"F-five hundred dollars!" she finally blurted it out.

"What in the name of- that better not have been Bobby's money!" Ronnie Anne warned.

"It's from my savings Ronnie Anne! Calm down," Lori reassured. She felt her grateful brother wrap his arms around her, and she returned the hug with a bright smile. Her heart felt warmer than ever thanks to him.

"Thanks Lori, but seeing you happy is enough payment for saving your life," Lincoln smiled. Regardless, he would never let it go. Lori messed up his hair for saying such a corny line. She rarely went anywhere without that sword at her side inside the shrinking bag. Lincoln knew that, and he didn't blame her for it, but it was a little worrisome that she felt that comfortable to have a bladed weapon on her person at all times, she already cut a paparazzi members equipment to shreds with it.

"It's your turn, Lisa," Lynn chimed up since Lisa looked hesitant to give her present to her second father. Lori going first in the opening really had made things set high. Even if Lincoln did not mind, it made everyone feel unsure if their gifts were good enough.

"Here, Lincoln…" the child prodigy held it out to him. He picked her up, letting her sit on his lap.

"Here. Let's open it together honey," Lincoln offered. Lisa nodded and gently pulled on one part of the bow that made it all unravel with the wrapping paper, it came crumpling off in one simple movement.

"Now that's a magic trick," Luan clapped. The child prodigy was smart enough to remember how the present's box was wrapped so well that she had known how to take it apart with the simplest of ease.

"I relatively don't know if it's much, but I want to thank you… It's you who motivated me to completing Vernan's hard work and start up the Guardian Project. If it wasn't for you, I would not have developed significantly in both an emotional, physical and knowledgeable way…" Lisa declared. Lincoln and the others had made her relax and open up on a more emotional level. The straight face she always had behind her glasses was visibly shattered, over these last few months.

"What's this?" Lincoln saw multiple upgraded small machines, that looked like essence transfer devices inside the box.

"It's a gift for the whole family, but I presumed you would like it most. These devices allow everyone's essence to be viewed in one large conglomeration. Essentially, it allows people to connect on an emotional level," Lisa explained. Everyone could see the family's bond, and they could feel it with the flip of a switch, whenever they needed to.

"You really weren't kidding when you said you would keep studying essence, were you?" Lincoln gave a thankful hug as he attached his onto his upper left torso underneath his shoulder. He could see one on Lisa's side, too. They both began to show a bright white color.

"That's so sweet… thank you," Leni thanked their second youngest sister and attached hers to her midsection. Larixxa stared at hers while turning it on, seeing the variety of essence colors on screen.

"It's so bright… and strong…" the half Xeran child said, seemingly mesmerized.

"Being a test rat for one of Lisa's gadgets? Nothing new," Luna shrugged, putting it on her shoulder. They could be easily moved around to be viewed while simultaneously being compact and small enough to be portable without getting in the way.

"I already have enough junk installed in my arms," Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes as she attached the device to her side, finding it a little cheesy.

"I wish I could have been more help to you guys, aside being just emotional support," Clyde expressed his guilt as he put the device on his arm, watching it light up a variety of colors.

"You were a big help, Clyde. More than you'd know," Lincoln put a hand on his friend's shoulder. McBride was glad to know that, or at least be told this. The words felt more truthful, rather than being said to try and cheer him up.

"We have a rule against experimenting on family members, but we'll make an exception because we've already used it before," Mr. Loud declared. They had used the large one at the military outpost when making that portal to the Xeran dimension already, and this was more a completed device rather than testing. Lily was babbling while playing with hers.

"My turn," Leni exclaimed, putting her present up. The young boy let Lisa back down. The gift was in a decent sized box. He pulled it apart and lifted the lid up. He pulled out a red and orange jacket made of a light, soft material, it had white stripes going over the shoulder, attached to a bright red star on the back with orange flames on it. The jacket was otherwise blended with blue and white colors.

"Whoa… this is awesome! You made this for me?" the surprised Lincoln slipped the jacket on. It felt good to wear and was rather warm as well.

"Yeah! I spent all week on it, Larixxa helped with the colors," Leni nodded, rubbing her adoptive daughter's head. Larixxa was still staring away at the device Lisa had invented, that they all received one of.

"Thanks, you two," Lincoln smiled, before two presents were shoved toward him.

"Open mine next!" Lola insisted.

"No! Open mine first!" Lana growled.

"He's opening mine first!"

"No, he's going to open mine first!" the twins bumped heads and the normal back and forth began between the two. Lincoln held his head in slight annoyance, before his brotherly best friend handed over his gift.

"How about you open mine first?" Clyde recommended.

"You're a life saver, Clyde," Lincoln exhaled in relief.

"Don't mention it," Clyde was glad to be this much of a hero. The guardians opted out of telling him anything because they did not want him to be hunting after monsters or trying to play hero himself, even if his own alternate dimension variant was doing exactly that.

"Shoes?" Lincoln quirked an eyebrow when he saw a pair of white sneakers with red ends, which looked to be of great quality. The material they were made of looked sturdy enough to last a decade.

"Have you even looked down lately?" Clyde retorted. Guardian Red glanced down to his feet. His shoes looked like they had walked a thousand miles and had been torn apart by rabid dogs, which was not far off, as Charles had chewed on them his fair share of times.

"Oh… no, I haven't… Thanks, Clyde. I'm glad they at least held out on me this long," Lincoln smiled. It was about time for a new pair anyway. He slipped the new shoes on and allowed his old ones to be dunked in the trash can where they belonged.

"Since they're still calming down, you can have my present next," Ronnie Anne threw her present in front of him. Even if they were on better terms, there still was the bitter venom of minor annoyance coming from her.

"That sounds good," Lincoln nodded, watching Lori and Rita as they tried to separate the twins whose fight had escalated to the usual shoving. Lincoln saw an odd purple box underneath the wrapping. A dozen unopened comic books of the Ace Savvy series were inside that box. "What are these?"

"What do you mean what are these?" Ronnie Anne smiled, "Lame-o, have you forgotten about them? These are all the new Ace Savvy comics that came out since you became a guardian, I asked Lisa when it all started… I think there're a few cruddy Crimson Chin comics mixed in with the mess too, if you care for them."

"Jeez… I guess becoming a hero made me forget my hero," Lincoln joked, but still grateful. He would have hated to have forgotten about Ace Savvy entirely. "There's no hard feelings… right?"

Ronnie Anne flashed a Cheshire grin on her face that somehow made him less confident in seconds. "Lame-o, there's always going to be hard feelings, and they're as hard as my knuckles! But it's my fault anyway. I should be asking you to not have any hard feelings with me."

Her ex-boyfriend looked to Lynn, she shook her head, not chiming in on the matter. They still had to tell their family about their relationship like he promised to.

"Uhhh… well, awkward feelings, yes. Hard, not at all," Lincoln gave the most honest answer he could. Ronnie Anne could then agree that sentimentality was always going to make things awkward, but it was not a type of awkward that made being friends impossible. Still, she was flattered that he still saw her as a best friend. She punched his shoulder playfully, before stepping away for the twins.

"Okay, Lincoln. You pick which gift you want to open first," Lynn Sr. Implored their only son to choose for himself, so that the twins would stop fighting already.

"I wish I could say I've never felt this rushed with my presents before, but honestly, this is the slowest I've ever had to open my gifts," Lincoln rolled his eyes. The twins were young, but they seemed to enjoy fighting half the time, they usually were able to keep from annoying each other intentionally at least.

"I'll start with… Lola's," he began to unwrap the gift that he swore just had layer upon layer of wrapping paper.

"Hah! I bet he'll like my gift better than yours, too," Lola stuck her tongue out at her twin. Lana just gave an angry glare. Luna and Lori had the two several feet away from each other.

"Oh hey!" Lincoln reacted to a lot of pictures inside of the present, of all the guardians in their guardian suits holding their helmets and taking several photos with either their whole family or in sets, all with bright expressions on their faces. The teenager pulled out the most prominent photograph, which was taken after the war ended. The photo was only the guardians altogether, holding their stars for the camera smiling brightly.

"That explains why you were running around with a camera that night," Lori laughed, feeling more prideful to see the box of pictographs more than anything. Lincoln gave Lola a tight hug, picking her up off the floor.

"That's my princess alright. You know I'm a sucker for sentimental stuff," Guardian Red exclaimed gratefully. There were many pictures to go around for the entire family to have. The spoiled Loud child certainly knew a lot of her family's weaknesses, but all those pictures she took shortly after the war ended were the perfect gift.

"Alright, Lana. Let's open yours," Lincoln put Lola down, she gave a cocky smirk to her red-capped twin, who lacked much optimism. The young boy did not like seeing any of his family sad. He opened the gift and pulled out an odd gizmo. It looked like a smaller buffer for him to polish items with. "Hm…? What is this?"

"I made it so you can polish your gauntlet easier. I heard Lori complain that the material they're made of is super hard to clean," Lana stated. Lori complained many times after an incident where mud had gotten on her guardian phone because of a careless driver and one mud puddle, Lana had overheard it. Lincoln picked up Lana and hugged her, not wanting her to feel left out.

"Thanks, Lana. You're right, Gruynithil is ridiculous to try and keep clean. I gave up on cleaning it a while back, because my blood kept staining it," Lincoln exclaimed, more than enthralled with the present. The red sheen of his guardian gauntlet would soon be restored to its full luster. His actions made Lana feel immensely better.

"Whose gift did you like better?" Lola requested while her twin was put down.

"I'm not going to answer that. I loved both of your gifts," Lincoln patted their shoulders. The twins accepted that answer, reluctantly.

"Here you go, little bro. My music career wouldn't be anywhere near where it is without all this," Luna let Lincoln open her present. He was surprised to see an album of the newly released, Star Shakers.

"You've gotten your first album published already? I know you've been working on it for the last few weeks, but wow," Guardian Red was impressed. His older sister rubbed his head.

"After the world found out I was a guardian, I got a million different offers for publishing deals… These aren't being sold in stores until next week, though," Luna explained. Having become Guardian Purple had gotten her a good bit of fame. Lori's pep talk from weeks ago had helped her get things done. Lincoln opened the album to view the CD. The disc had an autograph on it from Luna herself, with a tiny star underneath the signature.

"The first autograph of your career, I never thought I'd get that honor," Lincoln smiled. He knew Luna had a lot more songs in mind. Ever since they saved the world, her inspiration had gone through the roof.

"Here's my gift," Lucy set her present in front of him. The Loud boy set the musical album aside. The gothic's box was quite easy to open. From it, he pulled out a heart-shaped necklace, the insides of which were filled with an essence sphere full of black essence.

"Uhh, Lucy… Where'd you get the heart?" Lincoln asked. The metal frame around it was what made the shape of the heart, but it still was concerning.

"My friends found a hollow one. I used a ritual to fill it with my essence… Consider it a protection charm, a gift from the dark ones themselves," Lucy explained. Somehow it made Guardian Red feel even more uncomfortable, but he remained appreciative.

"Thanks, Lucy, but you didn't have to go through the trouble for me," Lincoln slipped it around his neck to let the dark heart dangle from the chain.

"It was still worth it," Lucy replied and hugged him.

"Here ya go, birthday boy!" Luan grinned from ear to ear as she plopped her rather wide present in front of him. Everyone in the room seemed to know what it was going to be. Luan did this with every other sibling, except for Lily whom she spared with cute light pranks.

"Let's get this over with…" Lincoln sighed after removing the wrapping paper. Closing his eyes, he grabbed the lids of the box and pulled them apart, only to hear a popping noise. He opened his eyes again to see confetti shoot out from the box from party poppers that had been tied onto the lid.

"Oh… I was expecting a pie," he let out a relieved laugh. He began to rummage around in the bubble wrap filled box and pulled out another box from it.

"Oh, boy… it's going to be like last Christmas, isn't it? With the large mess?" Lynn Sr. groaned. Luan did not say anything, keeping that same braced bucktoothed smile. Several boxes later, Lincoln finally got the last box opened. Inside of it was a silver briefcase with a star decal on it, that looked able to be locked securely.

"A carrying case?" Lincoln chirped. The lock code had not been set yet, so it was easy enough to open. The case had a few cut outs inside, specifically made for certain items to be carried within. Lincoln could place a safe bet on what.

"Yeah! A comedian's most important items are her props so you need a safe place for your gear too right?" Luan reasoned. Even if all the guardian gear was specifically locked, unless the matching owner's genetics were used, nobody else could activate it, but just because people could not bypass the fail safe did not mean they were above stealing them.

"You're right… I guess it'll be nice to know my stuffs safe when I sleep or shower," Lincoln nodded in agreement. Those were the only times he took that guardian gear off, mostly because of his sheer tiredness from all of the heroic efforts.

"Oh! And there's another present in the first box," Luan added while her brother rested the carrying case aside.

"Really?" Lincoln began to look through the packing peanut filled box. As he dug into it, a well hidden spring flung the lower half of the box aside, sending a pie flying right into his face, and the packing peanuts flying everywhere.

"Hahahahah! Oh, that's perfect," Ronnie Anne could not help but laugh.

"Can't escape the pranks even after you save the world," Clyde could not resist some light laughter either.

"Of course…" Lincoln huffed, disappointed in himself for not expecting this, nor avoiding it.

"Here you go, honey," Rita handed her son a rag to clean his face off with. Lincoln did so without much acknowledgement of the prank. Those laughing their heads off were doing good enough covering that area for him. He saw no reason to be annoyed when Luan was positively beaming.

"I hope you like it, Linc," Lynn decided to cut the joke short. The Loud parents could not figure out a gift that would be best for their son. They had spent the last two weeks celebrating their family being safe and sound essentially.

"You don't have to worry, Lynn. You need to relax," Lincoln replied, aware that she was becoming stressed from what they planned on doing today. Guardian black was impressed that her brotherly boyfriend could keep so calm, when her worry seemed prominently shown on the essence display device that Lisa crafted for the family.

"Indeed. It won't allow you to accomplish much if you permit it to overwhelm you entirely," Lisa told her motherly figure, holding her hand. Lynn gained a small smile, she tried to relax with some deep breathing. Lincoln began to open the last present, curious about the contents inside, since it was supposedly something that his girlfriend had pilfered from his broken possessions to repair.

"Whoa… Lynn, I didn't even remember I had this," Lincoln looked at the old GameJoy. It had slipped his memory entirely, because the older generation of handheld gaming device had stopped working, mainly due to an issue related with the battery pack where no matter how many batteries were put in or switched out, it just refused to accept them as a power source.

"It was really easy to get fixed. One of my football teammates is a tech geek," Lynn smiled, relieved to hear her brotherly boyfriend's joy from the gift. Lincoln pulled her close for a warm hug. Lori, Luna and Leni found it sweet, though Ronnie Anne could not bring herself to look at the two when they were being mushy with each other.

"I love the gifts, guys!" Lincoln exclaimed, happier than ever, "They're all great! Thanks again for them all!"

"Let's enjoy the best part now, shall we?" Lisa unlocked the birthday cake and took it off the container. Everyone was more than eager to clear the table and help with the cleanup for a slice of chocolate cake.

"Uh… before anyone digs into the cake, I'd like to share the news now…" Lincoln requested. He knew if they brought it up while everyone was eating, there would be a lot of choking.

"Alright, honey. That probably is for the best," Rita agreed, making sure nobody tried to sneak a slice of cake away without them looking.

"Do you want to start, Lisa, or us?" Lynn offered.

"I have to compose myself, mentally… I don't want to look pathetic when I start," Lisa shook her head, letting her parental figures start. The two guardians were relieved to already have over half of their family already know about this.

"Okay…" Lincoln started, "Let me start off by saying a few months ago, I was dating Ronnie Anne… But anyone even slightly nosey knows."

"Before you idiots ask any questions, I'm the one who dumped him. It was for stupid reasons. I screwed up. We're both over it. For the most part..." Ronnie Anne cut off before anyone could chime in interrogating. Sadly these days, the man of the relationship was always assumed to be at fault in relationships ending, he was grateful Ronnie Anne spoke up first.

"So, I got together with someone else shortly after I became a guardian," Lincoln was being surprisingly calm and brave about this. It made his sisterly girlfriend feel calm herself, but she had a feeling that it was a sense of power enforcing his calmness. Lincoln pulled over Lynn once again with no warning and planted a kiss on her lips to show their relationship, the same way they had shown Luna and Leni.

"Wha-!?" Lynn Sr. went wide eyed. Rita collapsed into her chair in shock, Lola could only stare in shock, and Lily laughed at the funny scene before her.

"Oh hey! You actually went and told him, Lynn? I honestly thought you weren't 'strong' enough to do it," Luan laughed, combining her pun with it.

"I already knew," Lucy saw the two kissing several times already. She was so quiet with her movements that she was able to catch most of the Louds' activities without much effort and without them knowing.

"Oh congrats," Lana half-cared, just wanting cake. A lot of the Louds knew about Lynns feelings for Lincoln. However they never anticipated it going anywhere.

"I still don't feel okay with this," Lori murmured. She had gotten a lot more used to their relationship since she first discovered it after they had saved her life.

"Aww! It's so sweet," Leni hummed. She and Luna barely had given a care about the relationship. They were old enough to handle their own lives. They knew the two guardians were not the type to fall in love blindly or be victim to their hormones.

"I made one of the songs in the album special for you two by the way," Luna stated, remaining relaxed in her chair.

"I dunno if I should be jealous or weirded out…" Clyde scratched his head. He could not score a date if his life depended on it. He certainly never had a chance at Lori, especially after Lincoln's warning to him about trying anymore.

"Do both. That's what I've been doing for a while," Ronnie Anne recommended.

"I thought I was his princess," Lola sadly said. She always liked to believe she was her only brother's favorite sister. Lincoln though never had a favorite nor would confess to having one.

"You all knew about this…? Why didn't any of you tell us?!" Rita demanded.

"This is wrong you two. Entirely wrong," Lynn Sr. added. The two could barely get over their shock from this.

"Because they earned it," Lisa answered from the chair she stood upon for a minor height increase, "These two have saved the world with the help of several others. No matter how much you protest or verbally condemn it, is rendered irrelevant. All of the guardians support this relationship."

"Reel it back a little, Lisa," Lynn requested. Lisa had seemingly begun an emotional shredding of their parents.

"You two should be thankful for all they've done," Lisa elaborated, "Every day they fought was to save everyone's lives and to keep us all safe. I sacrificed countless nights without rest. These are the guardians of emotions, they are exactly what they are, and are the best to understand relationships and true love."

"…what? Don't look at me just because I'm the guardian of love," Leni shook her head when their parents looked to her briefly. She was just playing with Larixxa and Lily.

"I mean… The only reason we're telling you all this is because I promised to. I mean, I could care less if you all hated me for it or not. We saved the world," Lincoln exclaimed. He had tamed his anger very well since the beginning of all these events. The Loud parents were speechless. They could condemn their children and disown the two for their relationship, which any parent would hate to do to their own flesh and blood, or they could support it and allow the two their own personal freedoms. But they never could call themselves good parents if they allowed such things to continue without punishment.

"…I've never felt so mixed about things in my entire life," Lynn Sr. confessed his mind practically in fragments

"Please at least tell us you haven't gone so far so fast in this…?" Rita requested. An incestuous relationship was one thing. An incestuous relationship moving very fast would be another. She was mainly concerned because the two had been sleeping together for quite some time, even if Lisa stayed with the two often lately at night that did little to calm her.

"What we showed you is all we've done. We just hated sleeping alone, that's all," Lynn reassured. Nights became a lot more peaceful once they began slumbering together. They needed each other's comfort because of the stress of everything, so that it would not dictate or harm their relationship.

"I-I just… I… is everyone alright with this?" The Loud father questioned. The Loud siblings all nodded. Even if a few had the news sprung on them by surprise, they were okay with it. Lincoln was not going to tell anyone about the rose perfume incident that nearly made his entire family fall in love with him, that was one living nightmare he planed on never revisiting.

"Okay then… We'll just do what's best for everyone…" Rita sighed, "Lynn Jr., Lincoln, we don't agree with this at all but… You saved the world, anything we say will never be paramount to that."

"It'll take time to get used to and… We just want everyone to be happy. We'll let you two handle the relationship as long as you handle it right and are not doing it as some blind desperation for pleasure," Lynn Sr. advised. There was nothing wrong with physical relationships, but in this case it would be entirely wrong.

"Really?!" Lincoln felt ecstatic, "Thank you mom and dad!

"Don't worry. I'll keep Lincoln in line," Lynn smiled warmly. The other guardians were happy about this. They would have hated if a loud verbal argument to burst out that would come down to picking sides, on whether an incestuous bond was wrong or right to support.

"Well, that's ten years off my life and probably more of my hair gone by tomorrow… What's the other news? Please tell me it's nothing crazy," Mr. Loud pleaded. The sibling couple motioned to Lisa.

"We've, uh…" Lynn did not know how to say it. Her brain stalled for a coherent way to explain the relationship they had.

"They've been acting as my parents," Lisa cut to the point with that monotone tone. Their parents became even more confused, but were glad to not be given a complete shocker again.

"Well it's more complicated than that. I just kind of gravitated toward acting like her dad when she started seeing me as a father figure," Lincoln claimed, not ashamed of it. Lily did not need the nurturing care from him on this scale though, she was perfectly fine.

"Why's that, Lisa?" Rita asked.

"Because to put it simply… I don't feel any attachment toward you two. Neither of you want to partake in my experiments. You actively avoid them when I request help out of fear for my safety. I don't feel loved by you two as much as I do with Lincoln and Lynn, I never really get attention or notice, I feel ignored..." Lisa put it as relatively simple as she frankly could, her straight face broken slightly by her secondary parents. Lisa had opened up a lot more on an emotional level since this relationship was forged.

"I'm sorry, Lisa, but if keeping you safe makes you hate me, then I'll gladly accept it," Lynn Sr. apologized. Whether or not the experiments were safe or not did not matter. With his clumsiness, they could escalate or evolve into threats in minutes.

"Your father's right, dear… I feel horrible that you see us this way, and we're more than glad to talk about it, but… For now, how about we just enjoy Lincoln's birthday and worry about the other things tomorrow?" Rita suggested, and began slicing the chocolate cake into parts for everyone to have.

"Sounds good to me!"

"That's enough heart attacks for one day."

"I'm starving, anyway."

"Sure!"

"I guess this puts things on 'ice-ing'."

"Luan!"

Lisa felt her lip quiver from the uncaring responses she received. She begrudgingly agreed, turning her back.

"Fine…" Lincoln let Lisa sit in his lap, as she leaned into him for comfort. Indeed she was upset, so he was more than glad to try and cheer her up.

"None of this will matter after today," Lynn quietly reminded them both. Lisa nodded in recollection of it. She nuzzled against Lincoln's chest, he rubbed her back to reassure everything was fine.

"You rest up Lisa, you've more than earned it," Lincoln smiled while he comforted her. The sun was already near setting with how much time had flown by. He was going to enjoy this birthday party to its fullest.

* * *

After the shocking news that they had gotten over, the day went on as well. The alarm clock beside Lincoln's bed read three minutes past one am, they had pretty much watched the clock since midnight.

"Are you all ready?" Lincoln asked, all the birthday presents he had received, aside from the ones he was wearing, were in the carrying case. He had a decent sized backpack at his back with another duffel bag on his side.

"Yeah… but are you sure you don't want me to carry the heavy stuff, Lincoln?" Lynn offered with her own bags dangled over her shoulder and her guardian attire on her, glad it was able to keep her warm in these cold weathers.

"Just because I have a cane and white hair, doesn't mean I'm an old man yet, Lynn," Guardian Red joked, gaining a decent laugh from his sibling. She decided to kiss him, but as they began their make out session, the door to their room opened.

"I was wondering why you two were taking so long to pack after we recorded everything," Lisa exhaled in frustration as the two separated, blushing and embarrassed for making them wait. The Guardian Project inventor had her own large bag on her back. The two lovebirds followed her downstairs.

"Sorry for making you all wait," Lincoln entered the living room, where the guardians and Larixxa were, except Ronnie Anne and Lori were gone, all the lights were turned off.

"It's alright little bro," Luna smiled.

"Are you sure you guys want to do this? Just because we're doing it doesn't mean you have to…" Lynn offered. They all had decided a week ago on what to do now that the war was over, and they all had similar desires.

"We've played our role in Royal Woods. It doesn't really need us anymore…" Leni sadly said while she rubbed her wide awake daughter's back.

"Essence is a beautiful thing… The worlds full of it, and I would like to paint with as much as I can in as many places as I'm able to visit… with mommy," Larixxa declared. She had been talking more, but she still had some awkwardness about her, but that was nothing too strange for the Louds.

"We've made our marks on the world, buuuuut… I'd like to make those marks a lot bigger!" Luna grinned eagerly with her star guitar on her back and some bags under her arms.

"I'm dedicating myself to researching Essence. It would help to explore it to my fullest capabilities… staying with dad and mom would make that task a lot simpler for me," Lisa declared. The family watched Lincoln with that same smile on his face as he pulled out a small case, and rested the blank DVD on the couch. He had written the words 'Watch Me' as big as he could on the disc with black marker.

"Let's go then," Lincoln turned on his heels, going for the door his cane tapping on the ground as they all quietly left the Loud home, closing the door behind them.

* * *

"Boo boo bear, you are the best… I've never felt so happy in my entire life," Lori stood outside of a fast food restaurant to have a quick bite to eat.

"Come on babe, you know I couldn't live a day without you," Bobby had an arm around his long time girlfriend, "let alone how long you told me it would be before you would come back."

"You both are making me feel sick," Ronnie Anne groaned, she currently was laid on one of the tables. The one employee working the late night, did not care for the trio outside, looking ready to fall asleep at the register.

"And you're sure you don't want to come with us, Ronnie Anne…?" Bobby asked, "I hate to imagine you being alone."

"I'm sure… You've been the worried father figure role most of my life while our parents were always busy. But nowadays, I'll live…" Ronnie Anne sighed, "Besides, if I tagged along, I'd just get between you two. I know Lori can keep you safer than I ever can."

"Okay…?" Bobby hesitantly nodded, he was very reluctant to agree.

"Well… thanks," Lori found it odd to be praised like this, but she appreciated it, she gave her phone a quick look to check the time. "Everyone should be coming to the park by now. Let's go meet up with them."

The two left with Lori leading the way, leaving the fast food joint after they had gotten their post-midnight meal.

* * *

"According to my recollection, dad, this is where your star landed when you lost it due to misuse in a fit of rage," Lisa spoke. They were by the bus stop in the park, the road going directly through said park. This was indeed the exact place where Lynn first discovered the suits combination glitch.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Lincoln asked while leaning on his cane. Lisa had blown his eardrums out when they told her that they had combined every star they had to beat the majesty, she was upset at how risky they were in those times.

"You would be correct," Lisa nodded.

"Sheesh… they sure are taking their sweet time…" Luna muttered while playing a light tune on her star guitar to fill the void of the silent night. The group could see the stars pretty clearly tonight. They looked beautiful with the moon illuminating the area. Royal Woods was having a minor power issue tonight, though none worried, as it seemed to not be related to any Xeran activity, or at least they had no reports claiming such.

"Oh! There they are!" Leni pointed out to the three approaching.

"You're pretty late. Where were you?" Lynn demanded.

"Calm down, muscle brain. We just went to get a bite to eat," Ronnie Anne retorted, her arms crossed.

"That and Bobby forgot his toothbrush," Lori added, the Santiago boy giving a nervous grin.

"Either way… Let me just say thank you all for everything you did for me. With or without the world being in danger. I was scared everyone would hate me for being a guardian, and… well, to be honest I figured that you all would have a limit and try to bail on the project," Lincoln explained. Whether or not they were driven by the motive to protect their family or revenge or the pure sadism that came with beating the Xeran, he assumed that at least one of the guardians would have tried leaving, and was pleasingly shocked when none did.

"You really gave a lot of good motivation Lincoln… I mean, I felt really safe as long as you were our leader," Leni claimed. Even if her IQ was as high as Lily's, she could see a good leader when there was one. Guardian Red did not even try to become the leader of the Guardian Project. The title had sort of just descended upon him.

"You've done so much for us over the years. It was about time we paid you back. Helping to save the world was a good start," Luna added with a bright smile. Everyone agreed with the sentiment.

"Wait. Where's Clyde? Wasn't he coming to say bye to us?" Ronnie Anne asked, just after noticing it.

"He said he wasn't able to without crying. We said our goodbyes when he left the party," Lincoln explained. His brotherly best friend had been very upset due to this, despite them having talked at length of it several times in the last two weeks. A car came toward them and stooped beside them. General Eugene stepped out of it.

"Guardians! I'm here not for a friendly visit, but on behalf of our country I am here to give you your reward for saving the world… Even if not many acknowledge it your country thanks you," General Eugene put on his military commander act, even if he did not act like it most of the time. It was only a minor formality. The military general pulled out a few pieces of paper from his pocket.

"Fo-fa-fa-four…" Lincoln stammered in shock. Each of the four pieces of paper were checks with one million dollars upon each of it.

"Whoa… Are you sure we can have this, Mr. General?" Leni asked.

"Its tax payers' dollars, but there is no price on life… the most we can do is to make sure you guardians at least have an easy start to your journey," General Eugene saluted, the entire group returning it like the small platoon of soldiers they acted as these last few months, "What are your plans? I know you're all leaving Royal Woods."

"Our duty as guardians is to help make sure essence stays free. The world needs heroes, humans and the Xeran are going to need help adapting to this new world. It's best if we help out as many places as we can… even if we're not together," Lincoln explained. They had talked about this plan since the war had ended. They were more than glad to volunteer in helping make the world a better place, they had a purpose in their lives to fulfill after all.

"We're all heading our own ways. We're not needed in Royal Woods anymore since this place is probably the safest from the Xeran now," Ronnie Anne declared. They had not told many souls about their departure from town tonight.

"You Guardians truly are saints…" General Eugene spoke, "I wish I could do more to show our appreciation. A lot of soldiers at my command are currently at home with their families. Soon we'll be heading back to base for our next assignments within the next week… But I gotta ask, where are you all going to go?"

"Well… I'm going to start by heading to Amity Park with Larixxa and Luna," Leni claimed. Her adoptive daughter was currently painting in her art book.

"We're gonna catch a plane there in the morning, but I'll still be making albums while we move around… I figured we'd start in a not so cold place to get past winter. I'm considering it a personal tour," Luna added, more than happy to stick with her older sister. The respective group of three planned on continuing their guardian duties, starting in Amity Park, just so they could avoid winter's cold wrath.

"Me and Bobby were going to start with spending a couple of months in Dimmsdale," Lori claimed. The oldest loud was hoping internally for a proposal from Bobby, in the upcoming months.

"It'll be weird to be moving around so much, but if it's with Lori, I'll do anything," Bobby nodded and smiled, holding her hand. The two had grown a lot closer since the start of this war. He just wished he had been there to help her and Ronnie Anne, even if it was just him being by their sides during those hard times.

"I dunno… Guess I'll bum around in Retroville a bit," Ronnie Anne shrugged, not really caring on where she went, as long as it was a place that she could help out. She had a small kit on her side that held tools that Lisa had given her. With them, she could take care of her own augmented limbs to keep her arms in good condition.

"Me, Lynn and Lisa could never decide, so we're going to visit three small places before we head to one big city to spend a month or two in before we head to the next," Lincoln stated. He believed that visiting several small places would be better before going to the largest of areas.

"We're going to spend our first month in Hillwood City before we head to Tremorton, and after that Petropolis," Lynn happily explained.

"And once we've helped those areas, we'll spend approximately… half of a year in Miracle City," Lisa added. The family within a family certainly had devised their plans. Everyone was more than happy to explore and help the world, but they were sad to acknowledge that they were spending the first Christmas away from their families, and it would not be the only one sadly.

"You don't have to help the world anymore, but I'm glad you will. I'll make sure you all get some pages in the history books for this monumental evolution in mankind," General Eugene gave a thumbs up. With essence becoming a main thing in the world thanks to the Xeran's appearance, a lot of breakthroughs could hopefully be made with it. But only the future held the outcomes for what might happen, but the guardians were the very reason the future was safe.

"Well… There's the bus," Luna said, seeing a bus drive up to the bus stop.

"That's what we're going to take to the motel near the airport," Leni felt bad that they had to leave so soon. They really wanted to spend more time with their guardian family members. Fortunately they had ways to be in touch with each other, and had nothing but intentions to keep checking up on one another.

"I hope your essences are still strong when we return," Larixxa commented, the devices on their bodies glowing a rainbow of emotional colors.

"We'll be riding along with you. There's a car store near there," Lori rubbed her head. She and Bobby needed to get their own ride. At least now they had the money to get one, but she had no plans on paying tremendous high for a vehicle shiny and luxurious, guardian blue wanted a vehicle that could simply get them from point a to point b.

"Well, Ronnie Anne… Promise to call me at least every other day, alright?" Bobby hugged his little sister. Ronnie Anne could not be annoyed by this. She felt saddened to say goodbye.

"I will...Thanks for everything… Bro," Guardian Gold returned the hug.

"You take care, Lincy… I know you'll be alright. As long as you have Lynn and Lisa with you," Leni smiled, but that smile did little to hide the tears beginning to escape her eyes.

"It'll be weird to not have a big audience for a family to practice around… But I'll never be able to thank you enough for helping me get to where I am now in the musical world," Luna her eyes with a sniffle. They both hugged their only brother and sisters, before they picked up their things and got on the bus, Larixxa holding her adoptive mother's hand as she followed.

"I know you like helping people, but please at least take care of yourself, too," Lori advised him. He always seemed problematic with his life choices, but that passion to protect others was a crucial element to who he was as a person. "And you better take good care of each other! I'll never forgive any of you if I don't see all of you with all your limbs the next time we meet."

"I'll try to take care of myself better, but these two are my priority," Lincoln jokingly replied, putting his left hand on Lynn's shoulder, and his right on Lisa's.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he stays fed and watered," Lynn gave a toothy grin.

"And I'll make sure that they don't cause too much property damage," Lisa adjusted her glasses. Once again they were just the spare backups she had after Linka destroyed her best pair, she cared little to get replacements.

"Alright… But… Please call me every now and then," Lori gave her last request to them, after exchanging hugs, she went with Bobby to get on the bus. The younger Louds waved, watching the door close as the bus begin to drive off with their family members on board.

"Mr. Loud, I'm glad you found a good replacement for Guardian White. I'd say I've been honored to have you all serving under me, but we all know it's been the other way around for a long time," General Eugene commented, grateful that Ben could recover with no worries since his predecessor had been decided.

"I just hope that he gets well and wakes up soon…" Lincoln looked to the ground, feeling his heart strings being jerked in all sorts of directions.

"Hm? Ronnie Anne? You're leaving already?" Lynn caught Ronnie Anne trying to leave with her hands in her coat pockets. The Santiago girl turned to them, shaking her head.

"I'm not good at goodbyes… All this mushy stuff's not exactly for me," Guardian Gold apologized with her guardian gear and other items carried on her back.

"What about transportation? Don't you have a plan?" Lisa asked. The four million dollars they had had been given, had been divided amongst the four groups equally. Lincoln was more worried because his ex girlfriend wanted to be alone, when Lisa could make sure her arms stayed healthy without many other risks.

"I'm going to walk and hitchhike. That's my plan," Ronnie Anne turned her back on them to continue leaving, but she stopped short, the sound of leaves crunching under her feet as she took in a breath and sighed. "And Lynn!"

"Huh? Uh yeah?" Lynn quirked an eyebrow, hoping that the Santiago girl did not want a last battle to say goodbye with.

"You better take care of Lame-o! He's my best friend, after all," Ronnie Anne declared. Lincoln could not help but smile, glad she had accepted to just remain friends with him.

"He's in good hands! I'll try and be a little easier when practicing Lucha Libre with him though," Lynn reassured. Ronnie Anne nodded, with that she continued off to leave the park and Royal Woods on foot.

"Lincoln? Are you crying?" Lisa noticed as Lincoln stood there behind the two he had that same bright expression with tears pouring down both cheeks

"Yeah… I am…" Lincoln murmured, "I just can't believe all that's happened… I knew we couldn't be together with our family forever, but I didn't think I'd have to say goodbye so soon…"

Lynn replied by hugging her brotherly boyfriend. "We'll meet up with them all again. Remember? We all agreed to come back on the same date."

"Y…yeah…" Lincoln nodded. He recalled it all too well.

"They'll be happy knowing we're aiding the world, and making it easier for its transition during its new developments, dad," Lisa joined in the hug. Lincoln felt happier after those words were said. They then heard the engine of Eugene's car starting up.

"Come on, you three. Let's get out of the cold. I'll give you a ride to the train station," General Eugene offered.

"Alright… thanks, general," Lincoln nodded, the three Louds climbed into the military jeep. Lincoln wished he had the courage to tell everyone in his family goodbye in person, but he had fulfilled his promise to Lynn and lived to see his fourteenth birthday. Those were enough completed goals for him to have handled. The jeep began to drive away from the empty park to head for the train station on the far side of Royal Woods, the next train would arrive early in the morning after all, they did not want to miss it.

* * *

It was now seven am in the Loud house. Things were usually quiet this early until the coffee kicked in for the older family members and the sugar for the younger side. Lola was the second to wake up, but she had a feeling in the back of her head that something was not right.

"No line for the bathroom…?" Lola tilted her head. She then saw Luan step out in her pajamas, still trying to wake up.

"Oh. Good morning, Lola," Luan greeted happily, while putting her hair up in its ponytail.

"Luan… is something wrong to you?" Lola asked, looking around.

"We're the only ones up?" Luan tilted her head with a confused expression on her face.

"Yeah… Why don't you go wake up Lori, Luna and Leni. I'll go check up on Lincoln, Lisa and Lynn," Lola said. The comedic Loud agreed as she wanted to keep on check of the guardians. All of them had been under their own stress, they wanted to help make that easier for them if they could.

"Lincoln! Lynn! Lisa! Are you awake?" Lola knocked on her only brother's door. She understood why the incestuous couple slept together for comfort, but never understood why Lisa slept in their bed as well.

"Lola, why are you banging on his door?" Lana groaned, stepping into the hallway, her head hurting from the noise, having been awoken by her twin sister.

"Because the last time I went in without knocking, it took me half a month to forget what I saw!" Lola replied straight away, her twin coming over. The door was not even closed all the way. She gave it a light push to open it.

"…Where are they?" Lana chirped as the twins entered the room. There was nobody inside. The bed was made, but the twins were mostly noticing the absence of a few family members.

"Maybe they got some emergency call about a monster?" Lola theorized but that did not explain where everything was. They saw Luan step into the doorway. "Oh hey, Luan, is everyone up now?"

"No… Everyone's beds are empty…" Luan shook her head, looking worried, "Lori and Leni's room was next to barren. Luna's gone, and some stuffs missing too. I couldn't even find her vintage guitar pick collection."

Lola and Lana felt the light bulbs in their heads flick on. The two went to Lincoln's closet, and they opened it to see its near complete emptiness. "…A lot of clothes are missing… So are all the presents."

"Luan… Did you look in the drawers and closets?" Lana added fearfully. They had seen their brother stash all his presents in the closet

"Yeah!" Luan nodded, "Not much was gone from Leni's and Lori's. Their favorite stuff and most important things were gone, and so was Luna's guitar case her cleaning and repairs kit. Why?"

The twins became visibly upset. "Get mom and dad!"

Minutes after that, a chaotic search around the Loud House commenced. Lucy checked the vents, yet nobody was hiding away. Rita had tried calling all of their children's friends in case they were just at another person's house early in the morning. Clyde was crying too much to give any real answer, but claimed his upset state was of no relevance. Lynn Sr. had tried contacting the schools, hoping a few of their children might have simply gone to school early.

"Nobody's answering…" Luan sadly looked at her cellphone, with Lily in her other arm. Even the baby seemed sad with no clue what was going on, but the bad atmosphere was enough to upset the infant.

"Hey, I found something!" Lana called out from the living room. She had found the DVD on the couch. Nobody had noticed right away because of the immense worry.

"A DVD?" Rita questioned, wondering what that was doing there since they usually had their tapes or movies put up on the shelf, "A DVD reading 'Watch Me'…?"

"Let's watch it," Lynn Sr. wanted to watch it right away, believing it was from their guardian family members because it had Lincoln's hand writing on it. After a few brief moments, the DVD was loaded into the player. The Loud parents, Lucy, Luan, Lola, Lana and Lily were all in front of the television to watch said DVD.

"Is it working?"

"I don't know."

"Leni! It's upside down!"

"You pulled out the charger!"

"Oh, for goodness sake."

The camera finally turned on to give the picture for the audio. The recording seemed to have been taken last night while everyone was asleep, the same two weeks after the end of the Xeran war.

"There. Its functional now," Lisa said in relief. I front of the camera stood the five guardian family members, as well as Lisa and Larixxa. They were recording from inside of the kitchen, when the other family members were all asleep.

"Um, hey everyone… jeez, this is weird," Lincoln tried to start off the video, but looked too hesitant.

"I'm not good at speaking when a camera's on me…" Leni sheepishly muttered. Being the focus of recording never worked well for her. Larixxa was painting in her art book, barely paying the camera any mind.

"Uggh! I'll say it! If you guys are watching this, then that means we're gone," Lynn started as she held her brotherly boyfriend's hand.

"Not like dead gone, but regular gone…" Luna cut in briefly, "Away from the house… for a really, really long time."

"We're sorry that we had to do it this way, but… We knew none of you would agree and would do everything in your power to try and stop us," Lori apologized. The Guardian Projects members all looked very guilt ridden.

"Royal Woods is a safe haven… at least for the time being… The world needs special aid to help it, and the only logical conclusion is that the guardians travel to do their best to help," Lisa concluded, not sounding at all remorseful. She would miss their siblings, but not their parents after the result of the confrontation being rather emotionless.

"I know you're all going to be upset… This was a lot harder for us to decide on, but we guardians are separating for a long time to go help out as many Xeran and people as we can," Lincoln explained, looking directly to the camera. That expression on his face being one of mixed emotions.

"Why…? Why would my babies run away?" Rita could only sob. Lynn Sr. felt as upset as she did. Lola and Lana wept profusely, and Lucy was keeping her respective sobbing quiet, the tears going down her face from behind the bangs covering her eyes. Luan seemed to be holding out hope that this was a prank, but each second that passed made that hope wither. Lily was close to crying as well, just from seeing the others upset.

"They fought so hard so they could protect us…" Lana sobbed, unable to make sense of it, "Why would they leave now?"

"Lincoln, you're an idiot… I know it was your plan! I'm going to hurt you so bad next time I see you! My tea parties won't ever be the same without the butler, or the prince…" Lola growled, but could not get that anger to conquer the grief in her heart.

"We'll be back, though!" Lincoln continued with his head resting in his hand, "Royal Woods just doesn't need guardians anymore… We left a few things behind that you're going to find in due time, but only when the time is right."

"We promise to be back on this very day… in… um…" Lynn could not bring herself to say it, feeling her confidence sway frailly in the metaphorical wind.

"In ten years," Lincoln finished for her.

"ten years?!" Luan bit her lip so hard to try and not get upset that she had actually drew a small amount of blood.

"I… did not think I could feel any emptier…" Lucy coughed. She was not even listening to some parts of the DVD anymore.

"You'll hear about us in the news I'm sure… or the internet," Leni sighed.

"Please don't try and find us. We have to do this," Luna implored.

"Our lives in Royal Woods are over for now. The next chapter of the worlds started. I may be the greatest swordswoman ever, but I know doing this will make you think I'm the worst sister ever," Lori tried to be light hearted, but could not bring herself to get a smile.

"We'd appreciate it if you could let our schools know… and my sports teams… We'll still get our education, don't you worry," Lynn reassured.

"I'll make sure of it with my own intellect," Lisa nodded. She would be their teacher if she had to in a sort of mobile home school fashion.

"Well we dragged this out…" Lincoln coughed, "I'm glad I got to celebrate my birthday with you all and I love every last one of you… The next time we meet will be under a bright sky and a beautiful world, and I can't wait to see how you've all grown with it."

"We love you!" they all said in unison, before the camera was turned off, leaving nothing but static on the screen. The other half of the Loud family sat there in shock.

"What do we do…?" Luan wondered aloud.

"There… There's nothing we can do Luan," Lynn Sr. let out a frustrated sigh, while resting on the couch as he held his head. However, Lana seemed to gain some form of relief.

"By the time our family comes back, I'm going to be a guardian! That's what I'm going to do!" Lana declared. Her twin looked at her like she was insane, but for some reason, that determination was relieving.

"…Me too… I want to help the world and our family," Lola nodded. The words she spoke were from her heart.

"A-goo!" Lily babbled like she agreed with the sentiment.

"Perhaps my dark lords would be pleased if I became a guardian as well…?" Lucy murmured with her arms wrapped around herself.

"I guess you better be on 'guard' then, because I want to be one too!" Luan exclaimed. The Loud parents did not say anything. If it made their children happy in these very stressful times, then neither Lynn Sr. nor Rita Loud would complain. All they could do was just try to mend the emotional damage of their family and hope that in ten years, they would be reunited with their now gone family members.

* * *

At the Flounder heights airport, Leni, Larixxa and Luna stood in a line, trying to do the usual to get by security so they could board their flight.

"Man, my neck's killin' me from sleeping in those uncomfortable beds," Luna groaned. They had stayed at the motel for the last few hours of the night until it was time to get to the airport and catch their flight.

"I told you use the couch cushions as pillows," Leni replied, she was holding Larixxa's hand. Guardian White had to disassemble her guardian blaster just to get it allowed through security. It was frustrating, but Lisa thankfully gave her an instruction manual in case anything needed repairs, all Leni had to do was to make sure it was not upside down when she read it.

"Mommy, someone looks really upset…" Larixxa tugged on her adoptive mother's hand. Leni looked over at the front desk, there stood a Xeran monster, appearing to be a living slot machine with one arm being a lever and his other hand having minor claws. He looked quite tall and tough, and frustrated.

"Come on! I'll pay twice as much for a ticket! I just wanna go to this Las Vegas I've heard so much about!" the Xeran monster exclaimed, but the worker behind the counter shook his head.

"I'm sorry, mister monster…"

"For the twelfth time, it's Sloran! All you idiots in this airport have done is sent me running in circles!" Sloran slammed a fist on the desk. A few golden coins fell out from his chest. All three of his slot machine eyes rolled in irritation as he went to go pick them up.

"Is everything okay?" Leni asked. She and Luna approached, Larixxa staying a short distance behind.

"Eh? Finally someone who cares!" Sloran fumed, "This idiot refuses to sell me a plane ticket! I've been here since four in the morning trying to get one, and they keep sending me back and forth from security check to security check! They even called the cops on me! TWICE!

"Chill dude!" Luna motioned the Xeran to relax, she then turned to the airport worker, "Why can't he get a ticket?"

"Ma'am, please, this is just a disgruntled customer. We're doing everything to make sure our flights are safe," the worker claimed. All that did was make the Xeran monster angrier.

"Excuse me?! You've put me through eighty different checks! You idiots even took my hat and won't give it back! I've done everything you asked three times now and you still won't give me a ticket!" Sloran responded. The two Louds had a feeling they knew what was going on here.

"…Are you not selling him a ticket because he's Xeran?" Leni asked directly. There was a line beginning to form behind them.

"What?" the worker stared, "Oh no, please, we assure you we just want every precaution taken before we-"

"It sounds like you've taken every precaution eight times over, aside from putting him in handcuffs… What makes him a threat, anyway?" Luna asked. The monster offered his lever arm to them.

"Depends on what you get," Sloran said. Guardian White shrugged, grabbing the lever and pulling downward, and watching the living slot machines eyes begin to roll. Each slot landed on a large, red seven symbol. Just like that, dozens of coins began to spew out from the Xeran's chest onto the floor.

"Ohhh, real scary…" Luna sarcastically spoke, watching the monster shake his head as he stepped aside, letting the people in line have the gold dollar coins just so they would calm down from the wait.

"I can't pull my own lever! That's why I wanna go to this Vegas place I've heard so much about! It sounds like a place I'd be able to fit in perfectly! I'm not rigged or anything!" Sloran exclaimed. He had no control over his own slots. the two guardians looked to the man behind the counter.

"Sorry, but we are legally allowed to detain anyone for as long as we need to, if we suspect them of being terrorists," the worker then elaborated.

"So just because he's a Xeran he's a terrorist by default?" Leni questioned, angered, "I don't know about you, but I don't see any bombs on him!"

"That's pretty racist, dude," Luna added with a raised eyebrow. Hearing this exchange seemed to begin to get the people around the counter, a little antsy from hearing the poor treatment of the charitable creature.

"What? That's-! Who are you two ladies, anyway? Do I need to call security?" the worker replied, not seeming to give a direct answer. The two Louds pulled out their stars. It was the only thing they really could think to do.

"I'm Guardian White," Leni answered.

"I'm Guardian Purple. We're trying to make the world better," Luna glared down the man. He seemed genuinely afraid of the two. The building crowd was eager to hear their identities. The Xeran monster was surprised that he was being helped by them of all people. "So, Mr. Airport Worker, only three things are gonna happen here now that we're around."

"A…and what would that be?" the worker hesitantly inquired.

"You're either going to sell this man his ticket, because he's done everything you asked, or you're going to sell us his ticket that we'll give to him. Or… we could just let the crowd here deal with you," Leni explained, more than glad to let the crowd punish the racist. The worker hesitantly gave the ticket to Sloran.

"Enjoy your flight, sir…"

"Thank you!" Sloran happily took his ticket and gave the two a very tight hug, almost crushing their backs. After a few minutes, the small group of four were forced to go to one of the many airport gates, to escape the crowd that was eager to meet the guardians.

"I can't tell you how thankful I am! You girls can pull my lever all you want until my flight leaves!" Sloran offered, but the trio seemed to not be interested in doing that.

"Thanks dude, but we're just doing our jobs," Luna brushed the offer aside, "We have plenty of money for a lifetime."

"Isn't lever another word for-" Leni muttered, but her sister quickly covered her mouth.

"Mommy, shouldn't we go to our plane? It's leaving soon…" Larixxa chimed.

"Oh shoot! You're right!" Leni spoke. The guardians had almost forgotten the time. They could see people heading for the very flight, they had ignored the intercom announcing the flights departure when dealing with the racist worker. Leni picked up her daughter, and then turned her head to their Xeran friend. "You take care, Sloran! I'm sure you'll find your place in Vegas!"

Guardian White went off with Luna so they could catch their plane to Amity Park.

"Thank you, Guardians!" Sloran gave an eager wave goodbye, "I promise this is the last time I take a plane anywhere!"

* * *

"All of these cars look like they'd cost more to repair than to buy," Bobby commented. They were looking through the many used cars on sale.

"You're telling me," Lori agreed. Neither of the two were really mechanically inclined. The Santiago boy would certainly try to claim otherwise to try and impress her.

"I can tell you, sweetheart, these cars are good to go," the salesperson with them reaffirmed.

"You know your advice kind of becomes worthless when every other word out of your mouth is a sales ploy," Lori retorted, leaning on one of the cars. She seemed to have damaged the salesman's ego with that quip.

"I'll remember that when you try to negotiate prices…" the salesman murmured, going off to get back into his store, leaving the young adults to continue examining the cars to try and find one that might be worth their money.

"Varoom!"

The sound of a screeching tire rang out, followed by glass shattering. They saw an over sized tire rolling out from the store. People were scattering in terror as the tire crushed several of the vehicles around, turning them into piles of scrap.

"What is that?!" Bobby asked in fear. Lori shoved him out of the way and jumped back when the tire came rolling their direction. Guardian Blue drew her sword out, twirling the blade as it glowed bright red.

"Magma scatter crash!" Lori swung forward, sending out a wave of fire that hit the tire directly, causing parts of it to melt.

"Grah! Who's trying to ruin my fun?!" they heard a light voice speak as the tire transformed into a Xeran monster. The rim was his face and parts of the tire were his arms and legs, with two horns on his head.

"Guardian Blue! That's who! You can't destroy things for no reason," Lori glared. The monster shook his head.

"Just because you can make me melt a little doesn't mean you can stop my rolling! Or my name isn't Teran!" Teran was ready to attack. He turned back into his giant tire form and began spinning around, screeching against the ground, and he charged right for the oldest Loud.

"Bobby, stay out of the way," Lori ordered as the Xeran monster was nearing her. She jumped back, quickly spinning while dodging him and swinging her sword. "Turning scatter slash!"

Lori slashed the tire as it darted by her. The Xeran monster suddenly let out a scream of agony, before sparks began blasting off of his whole body, he then collapsed and detonated. The explosion left him as nothing but ash.

"Wow, Lori…" Bobby popped up from the car he was ordered to hide behind, watching his girlfriend go toward the burning remains of the Xeran monster, beginning to poke through it with the general of defense's sword. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Lisa's gift has an extra trick to it. I'm not willing to murder any more monsters, if I can help it." Guardian Blue claimed as the now hollow essence sphere rolled out. She picked it up, it burned her fingers a little, but she ignored the pain and reached for the smaller device Lisa had given the family.

"It's like a miniature essence washing machine… That's the best explanation I have," Lori opened the display which revealed a hollow inside that could hold up to five essence spheres. She put the single one into it and closed the cover, watching the device glow brightly and then spin rapidly, showering the essence sphere with guardian essence.

"Aaaaannnd… There we go!" Lori smiled. After a few seconds, the device stopped and she pulled out the essence sphere, which was now full of brightly colored essence.

"Take care," Guardian Blue threw the essence sphere in the air and smacked it with the flat end of her sword like a baseball, sending it flying far away.

"That was awesome, Lori. So Lisa's gadget lets you use all your families' essences to help cleanse bad hearts?" Bobby tried to understand this the best he was able to.

"Cleanse, reincarnate, rebirth, give a second chance, whatever you wanna call it, that's what we give now instead of blind murder unless we have no choice," Lori explained, sheathing the sword back into the shrinking pack.

"Ah-hem… I apologize, Miss Guardian Blue…" the car salesman came out from hiding to thank her. A hole in the wall could be fixed easily, "I'll give you a discount for saving most of my store."

"Awesome!" Bobby laughed, "It must be our lucky day, babe!"

"Oh, boo-boo bear… Let's get back to the car hunt," Lori rolled her eyes and giggled. The car salesman seemed a lot more intent on showing them the best of the best available now, instead of letting them go shopping for an automobile completely blind.

* * *

Ronnie Anne rode on the back of a pickup truck. She was laid back, using her guardian gear and bags as a form of makeshift pillows. She had traveled a good distance already. However, she suddenly felt the vehicle come to a sudden stop.

"Huh…? What's going on?" Ronnie Anne sat up, sliding open the window of the back of the truck, the driver motioning her to relax.

"Sorry, darling. Someone else needs a lift. Hope ya don't mind," the driver spoke with the heavy southern tone to his voice. The man appeared to be the type who went out of his way to help out people he could. Guardian Gold was thankful that the man was so generous to random hitchhikers.

"Skree?" a random textoth stood beside the vehicle. She could only stare at it with wide eyes.

"…Hey… where are you from?" Ronnie Anne asked the skeleton monster. It had a rainbow of colors on his body, instead of just the generic two that used to be unchanging.

"Skree-ke-ke-keeeee," the textoth pointed to the forest behind him. The Santiago girl guessed that a poor unfortunate person must have died out very deep in the forest, and the essence sphere landed near their bones. As result, they combined into a special type of textoth. In a sense, this skeleton monster was the man revived into a semi-elite textoth.

"Where're ya heading?" the driver asked. The textoth shrugged, seeming to have no memories of their past life.

"Heh…Maybe it's a sign I shouldn't be alone…" Ronnie Anne thought, and then spoke to the skeleton, "Hey! Why don't you come with me?"

The textoth looked up at her. She was a lot taller than him because of the truck she stood in the back of.

"…skree-skree!" the textoth gave an okay sign. The young girl seemed trustworthy enough. She grabbed his hand and yanked him into the back of the truck with a loud thud upon landing.

"Well, I've never seen friends be made that fast," the driver smiled and pressed his foot on the gas pedal, continuing to drive off with his two passengers in the back.

"Ronnie Anne's my name. I'm also known as Guardian Gold. What's your name?" Ronnie Anne introduced herself, yet the skeleton monster only knew himself as textoth.

"Skree," he responded. So far the young girl had only been taking guesses on what he was saying or going off body movements to try and read what he was saying. Ronnie Anne could not understand a single thing he said. It took a moment, but she had an idea on what to refer to him as.

"Alright, that settles it. Your name from now on is Huesos... Hows that sound?" Ronnie Anne questioned. Being of Latin-American descent, she decided to go to that for help to get a name, even if she did not get much use from the language nowadays.

"Skreeeeeee!" Huesos seemed fond of the name. He wrapped his bony arms around Guardian Gold. She chuckled, glad to have a companion, even if she went for a vague reasoning to get him to join her.

"I've got some cards in my bag. The truck might be moving a lot, but playing blackjack should be easy enough," Ronnie Anne said while getting out some playing cards. They had a long road ahead of them. Thankfully the friendly driver was more than glad to take them halfway to the destination. The Santiago girl could not wait to tell the others about this over the phone when she had the chance.

* * *

In one part of the countryside, a train was rolling along the tracks. At least fifteen passengers were on board, counting the workers. In one of the cabin rooms of the train, Lincoln, Lisa and Lynn were all seated at a table by the window which let them look out to the beautiful rural countryside.

"It appears our family is aware of our departure…" Lisa commented, looking at their essence viewing devices. The dark shades of blue displayed on screen represented despair. It was likely that the DVD had been viewed.

"Yeah… I'm not proud of doing things this way, either," Lynn held her head, feeling ashamed a little to be doing this. Her brotherly boyfriend put his hand on hers.

"Don't beat yourself up over the past, Lynn… We're going to have to change trains a few times to get to our first destination," Lincoln reminded. His cane rested on a nearby rail that was meant to be grabbed in case the train came to an emergency halt.

"Thanks, Lincoln… At least we've got Lola's present to you to remember them by, and they have plenty of copies to remember us by," Lynn smiled. They had taken one of each photo of the many copies Lola had given him as a birthday present. They were most fond of the pictures of the guardians all together with their helmets off, and the other picture of the entire Loud family in one big group photo.

"It appears the worlds transition is off to a rather haphazard start," Lisa exclaimed while viewing her laptop. She showed it to her two pseudo-parental guardians. It was a video sharing website showing all sorts of videos of people giving their opinions of the guardians, the Xeran's and the world changing at large. There were also news reports of Xeran committing crimes, but there was also a large share of reports of other Xeran doing charitable deeds and aiding police in stopping their criminal Xeran brothers and sisters.

"Wait… is that Zeggfor?" Lincoln looked at one of the video's preview thumbnail. The child prodigy clicked the video, and it loaded up quickly before it began playing.

"The video was taken in… Australia? He covers a lot of distance fast in two weeks," Lynn was astonished. The video showed a part of town that had been partially damaged. A weird female monster stood nearby, swinging her hair that had large balls on the ends like wrecking balls toward the general of offense. Zeggfor caught the attack full force, standing his ground before he pulled the monster toward him, he proceeded to deal a devastating hard punch to their face with a blast of electricity to follow.

"Whoa!" The cameraman fell backwards in sheer shock upon seeing the defeated monster explode upon hitting the ground. The last thing the camera recorded was Zeggfor approaching him.

"Are you okay?" Zeggfor's voice sounded before the video ended.

"Hahahaha… Ah… that's Zeggfor alright. Glad to see him taking out his anger on something other than me now," the relieved Lincoln said while he polished his guardian gauntlet with the gift Lana gave him. It worked wonderfully so far.

"Do you think all of our family will be okay?" Lynn questioned. It was very emotionally stressing after all.

"I believe there is a 90% chance that they will be fine," Lisa claimed. Once they got the chance, they would try to get into contact with the other guardians to check on their conditions.

"They'll be alright. They're all pretty strong now," Lincoln gave a toothy grin. The trio were more than content to take things easy and just watch videos of various Xeran activities from there. He was glad to be able to live out their lives to the fullest and play their parts in the world. One day, far in the future, they would one day meet up with everyone again. For now, they had a giant world to meet that was in need of help. Lincoln had only one thought in his mind.

 ** _"Watch out world, the Guardians are coming."_**

 **The end...For now...**

 **Well, there you have it dear viewers! My second ever loud house fanfiction is now complete, let me just say thank you all for that over 70,000 views and the near 900 reviews. I am surprised that this story became so popular, some informed me that it was the longest loud house story in the archive but I do not know if that is true. Either way thank you all again for the support, will there be a sequel? Yeah. Definitely, not soon though.**

 **I need to say a few things, first off the other super sentai inspired fic called "Titan Heroes." Is not a ripoff, I have received dozens upon dozens of private messages claiming so, if you have to be critical with the individual please make it constructive.**

 **Secondly, just like with a brothers debt I made this world so it could be wide open, anyone can make art or write for it and add OCs as long as they fit, then it'll be up to the readers to decide if it is canon or not. Thank you OmegaUltra for the prequel to Guardian Louds which I am making canon.**

 **Thirdly, I thank you all for the support. I tried my best, as a giant fan of super sentai I'd like to think I did it alright here. I do request people to work on the TvTropes page of Guardian Louds, if they do not mind. Once again, thank you all. I cried a little when I finished this epilogue, it was hard and I worked to make sure you'd get it all. Thank you all, and take care! See you again soon!**


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